Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) today announced increased prize-money, reduced administrative costs, increased promotion of ownership and additional support for integrity services - measures which were approved by the HRI board at its meeting on Friday 13 ^th . The changes had been flagged by HRI Chairman Joe Keeling at the annual racing awards on December 9 ^th when he outlined his commitment to improved prize-money and reduced costs of ownership.

Prize-money in Irish racing will increase by 5% in 2014, from €46.2m to €48.5m, including an increase in the minimum race value from €7,000 to €7,500.

Reductions in administrative charges for racehorse owners and trainers will amount to 10%, representing € 311,000 overall. The horses-in-training levy, for example, is reduced from €18 to €10 per horse. The changes will take effect from January 1 ^st .

Racehorse ownership is a priority for 2014 and an extra €120,000 will support Irish Thoroughbred Marketing's work in this area. An additional allocation of €167,000, as requested by the Turf Club, has been approved for Equine Forensic Testing.

Other than the completion of projects approved in 2013, there will be no racecourse capital development grant scheme in 2014. Work has commenced on seeking to establish a new scheme from 2015 onwards.

Commenting on the changes, Brian Kavanagh, HRI Chief Executive , said: "HRI's registration charges have all been frozen since 2008 and these reductions will go some way to retaining horses in training and encouraging new owners to get involved with the sport. The decline in ownership since 2008 is one of our greatest concerns, which is why we have appointed a dedicated ownership manager and increased the ownership promotion budget. Improved prize-money and reduced administrative costs will help that initiative considerably."

The reductions for 2014 are facilitated by anticipated savings through the implementation of streamlining between HRI and the Turf Club and further reductions in HRI's overall cost of administration. The reductions will be seen in the charges against owners' accounts for a range of services provided by HRI's racing and client accounts departments, such as horses' names, owners' colours, authorities to act and the registration for racing purposes of partnerships, syndicates, clubs and companies.

Prize-money details

The minimum value for Irish races is being increased from €7,000 to €7,500. Other increases, by race type, are set out below:

The new minimum values will apply from January for National Hunt racing and from the start of the Flat race summer season (23rd March 2014) for the Flat.

The decline in ownership since 2008 is one of our greatest concerns, which is why we have appointed a dedicated ownership manager and increased the ownership promotion budget.