The Plus 10 bonus scheme, which anticipates 600 opportunities to win a £10,000 bonus this flat season, is ready to go for the 2017 flat season. The scheme, which has paid more than £8 million in bonus prize money to owners and breeders in just two years, will see a limit on the number of bonuses a horse can win per a rule change announced in December 2016. Starting Apr. 1, Plus 10 horses are limited to one £10,000 bonus and if a horse is successful in another Plus 10 race, they are ineligible for that bonus.
The rule change is the result of the success of the scheme and changes to the 2-year-old race programme, as the number of qualifying juveniles rose 10%, a lot of races were divided into divisions due to oversubscribed fields, and the number of qualifying races rose from 550 to 600, as racecourses responded to the demand for the program by increasing purses, and thus qualifying races. The change ensures that the scheme can continue to operate within its resources. Only 6% of the 769 horses which won a bonus during 2015-2016 added a second or third bonus, equaling 0.8% of the total pool of potential Plus 10 winners from each foal crop.
Plus 10 Chairman Julian Richmond-Watson said, “Plus 10 is achieving its aims of encouraging investment in bloodstock, stimulating racehorse ownership and incentivising owners to run their horses more often. Because of its success, we are introducing this small change which we consider to be the least impactful to all stakeholders in Plus 10, to ensure the scheme operates at a sustainable level in the future. While qualifying horses will no longer be able to win a second bonus, this is offset by improved opportunities to win, thereby maintaining the broad scope of the scheme across two and 3-year-old races, with large numbers of owners and breeders remaining beneficiaries.”
As a truly joint scheme, which recognises the significant links between the British and Irish industries and supports those operations which operate across both countries, the rule change will also apply in Ireland.
Horse Racing Ireland Director of Racing, Jason Morris said, “Limiting the number of bonuses a horse can win will mean the maximum possible number of individual horses, and therefore owners and breeders, benefiting from the scheme going forwards. The rule change should also ensure a greater number of bonuses carry over for the benefit of 3-year-old maidens in Ireland each year.”
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