£1.2m Sky Bet Sunday Series boosted by £250k bonuses and prizes

The Sky Bet Sunday Series returns even bigger and better this year, with the organisers revealing that an additional £250,000 of bonuses and prizes will be on offer for jockeys, apprentices, trainers, owners, and stable staff.

That’s on top of the bumper £1.2m of prize money already on offer across the six fixtures at Hamilton Park, York, Musselburgh, Pontefract, Haydock Park, and Sandown Park – which are all shown in their entirety on a late Sunday afternoon slot on terrestrial audience on ITV4, as well as Racing. TV.

ITV, Sky Bet, Racecourse Media Group and six of its racecourses are delighted to announce the cash injection as they look to build on the success of this collaboration in 2021.

The bonuses and prizes linking the Sky Bet Sunday Series include:

• £100,000 to the first jockey to ride 7 winners in the Series

• £100,000 to the owner of the first horse to win 3 races in the Series

• £25,000 to the first trainer to train 7 winners in the Series

• Stable Staff prizes to the three leading stables with guaranteed prizes of £10,000 (1st), £3,000 (2nd) and £2,000 (3rd), based on points from winners, seconds, thirds and runners

• Prize for winning apprentice (based on most wins/places in the Series), including a 12-month sponsorship from Sporting Life (worth £5k) and Media training/internship with Racing TV

• Enhanced Best Turned Out: £250 per race (split for 1st, 2nd and 3rd) for all races in the Series

The Sky Bet Sunday Series is open to all trainers who have horses eligible for the race conditions and the six seven-race Sunday cards comprise:

• 8th May – Hamilton Park

• 22nd May – York

• 5th June – Musselburgh

• 19th June – Pontefract

• 7th August – Haydock Park

• 21st August – Sandown Park

Leading jockey Ben Curtis said: “The Sky Bet Sunday Series bonus was certainly on my radar last year, having ridden two winners at the opening fixture. If the cards fall my way this year, then I would certainly be keen to give it a real go, as riding seven winners across six fixtures – three more than last year – while a big ask, is possible. The £100,000 bonus is a very generous incentive from the organisers, and I am sure a lot of my fellow jockeys will be eyeing it up too. Anything the sport can do to raise its profile can only be a good thing and I hope we can all get behind the Series again and make it a real success.”

James Savage, Assistant trainer to Sir Michael Stoute, said: “The racing industry needs fresh ideas, not only to reach out to the public, but also to attract increased prize money and competitive fields. I feel the Sky Bet Sunday Series is going to be very popular and the ITV coverage as well as the generous Sky Bet sponsorship and incentives can only be a positive going forward.”

Sam Hoskins, Racing Manager of Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds and Hot to Trot Racing, said: “Sunday is a very good day to get owners together to go racing and I’m pleased that the Sky Bet Sunday Series is growing in its second year. It’s a great initiative with really good prize money, it’s good to see the stable staff getting a focus and we will try our best to target some of horses at the Series.”

PJA Racing Director CEO Dale Gibson said: The PJA support the expansion of the Sky Bet Sunday Series. Meaningful Sunday prize money remains vital for all participants, in addition, the potential bonus for the first Jockey to ride seven winners over the series is welcome, and achievable, alongside the additional sponsorship prize for the leading Apprentice. We thank everyone involved and wish all participants the best of luck in the forthcoming series.”

The Series will again endeavour to make racing simpler to understand and more accessible to wider audiences by delving behind the scenes and uncovering the less-told stories about what goes into preparing a horse for racing and what goes into staging a race day itself.

The broadcasts will also focus on the grass roots, such as pony racing, and showcase horses, trainers and jockeys who don't often get the limelight, as well as lifting the lid on how best to read the formbook and analyse a race.