Plus 10 To Limit Bonuses

Plus 10 bonuses in Britain and Ireland will be limited to one per horse from Apr. 1, 2017, due to a likely increase in the number of qualifying races and the impact of an increased number of novices races for 2-year-olds. Plus 10 has made payments totaling £8-million to 800 individual owners and breeders since March 2015 through its £10,000 bonuses, and there has been a 10% uplift in the number of qualifying 2-year-olds. The British Horseracing Authority has reported that field sizes for races carrying a Plus 10 bonus outperform the equivalent by 5%, and this year almost 40 Plus 10 qualifying races were split due to demand. These factors have seen the number of qualifying races expand from 550 to 600.

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 as more races qualify for a bonus, thereby maintaining the broad scope of the scheme across 2- and 3-year-old races, with large numbers of owners and breeders remaining beneficiaries.”