Horse racing is a sport that is deeply rooted in British culture. In its early regulated days in the 18th century, it was followed mainly by royals and other high-class individuals. In modern times, the accessibility of the sport to all sorts of people is powering its constant growth.
The wealthiest people can get directly involved by obtaining full ownership of racehorses. At the same time, fans who do not quite have that level of funds can at least attend the biggest events each year, and methods are emerging of how they can become directly implicated in the sport financially.
The evolution of horse racing over time has made it a prevalent worldwide sport, which is followed by all kinds of people – not just the elites.
Part-ownership is possible as well as full-ownership
The financial incentives for backing successful horses are now not solely limited to the super-rich. People, even on average incomes, can buy shares in highly-rated racehorses. RaceShare for example allows horse racing fans to part-own a racehorse by becoming involved in a syndicate.
This means that a share of the sport’s rewards can be claimed by those who cannot afford to fork out the funds to completely own a competitive horse of their own.
The site offers stakes in a range of horses including Scampi who has accumulated career earnings exceeding £170,000 in just over three years of competing at the top level.
Of course, full ownership of a racehorse would have the potential to be the most beneficial investment within the sport. But the risks would also be higher. Syndication evens out both the risks and rewards. You can still enjoy seeing your horse truly win and the losses won’t devastate you in quite the same way as they would a sole owner. Part-ownership is certainly a massive positive for those who wish to get involved with an industry that is constantly on the rise.
Horse racing offers potentially growing rewards
Horse racing’s evergrowing popularity means that sponsorship and television deals surrounding the sport are increasing. As a result the stakes have continued to rise. The number of races and spectators continues to grow as does the size of the prize pots available.
In 2023, the Grand National at Aintree offered a total prize purse of £1 million and this will surely rise in 2024. The Epsom Derby offered an even more remarkable purse of £1.5 million in its most recent run.
These two offer the highest rewards on the British horse racing calendar, and they as well as many other major races will continue to offer increasingly large prize funds with renewed TV deals and sponsorships coming into play.
This year ITV renewed their broadcasting rights to show the vast majority of UK horse racing events until 2026. Their previous deal was worth around £9 million, and, although undisclosed, the new figure is undoubtedly a significant increase on that.
There are also regular sponsorships that remain in place which regularly rise in value as the years go on. An abundance of betting companies as well as major broadcaster Racing UK pledge sponsorship revenue to the UK horse racing scene every single year which totals tens of millions of pounds.
The European Breeders’ Fund is another angle from which the sport receives an annually rising rate of income. In 2023 they contributed almost £2 million to prize money alone.
Horse racing is ultimately an industry that is highly concentrated with significant financial stakes in modern times. The potential rewards that come with success in the industry are obvious, and now fans even can obtain a minor stake which could allow them to feel the impacts of the sport’s growth on a smaller scale.