The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has today published the fixture list for 2025, which sees a continuation of the two-year trial of various changes designed to deliver more competitive racing and boost the sport’s appeal.
Recommended to the BHA Board by the sport’s Commercial Committee, the fixture list has been developed as part of British racing’s long-term strategy to strengthen our position as a world-leader in thoroughbred racing and breeding.
The 2025 fixture list builds on the initiatives introduced in January 2024, with several tactical interventions to support key areas such as increased prize money values and race competitiveness.
The main features are available to view here and include:
- A total of 1,460 programmed fixtures
- 162 Premier Racedays, with minimum prize money criteria raised by 10%
- A continuation of the Saturday afternoon protected window and further strengthening of Sunday racing
- Actions to improve competitiveness and boost customer appeal, including extended use of race divisions and agile race planning
- Changes to the fixture list breaks on the Flat, with the aim of supporting improved participant wellbeing.
The package of initiatives introduced as part of the two-year trial are being closely monitored, with detailed quarterly updates to report on performance against published targets. The review for the first half of the year has also been published today and is available to view here.
Commenting on the 2025 fixture list, the BHA’s Director of Racing, Richard Wayman, said:
“The 2025 fixture list continues the two-year trial started in January this year, designed to enhance the quality and competitiveness of our racing, increase customer engagement and improve the financial returns to those who own, train and run their horses here in Britain.
“We are just seven months into the trial, and it was at an even earlier stage when the principles of the fixture list were agreed. As such, there were no plans to fundamentally alter anything for 2025, given how short a period this has been in terms of accurately assessing the performance of the changes.
“The volume of fixtures and races remains largely consistent with last year, but the race programme will fluctuate as more agile planning allows us to better tailor supply to the needs of the horse population – ensuring sufficient opportunities for connections to run their horses. We have also published the fixture list much sooner this year, which will support earlier production of the Programme Book. We hope this will help field sizes in early 2025 by giving connections more time to plan their campaigns.
“Having increased the minimum prize money criteria for Premier Racedays, we did expect to see a contraction in the overall number, but while some meetings have returned to core status, others have met the new thresholds. Hopefully this extra prize money will be welcome news, as will the strengthened offering on a Sunday.
“The Commercial Committee did discuss whether the number of Premier Racedays should be restricted by other means. However, there was a strong consensus that the two-year trial should be allowed to play out before significant changes are introduced.
“We also wanted to take further steps to support the wellbeing of our busiest Flat jockeys. This includes moving the November Flat break to start immediately following the end of the turf season, so that jockeys and others can take a much-needed break before returning for the all-weather season. We are acutely aware of the impact of the demands that the fixture list places on the many involved in servicing it and know that more progress is necessary in this area in the future.”
Notes to editors:
1. The 2025 fixture list can be viewed here. This includes the full list of Premier Racedays.
2. The breakdown of the 2025 fixture list by code and session is provided below, together with comparative numbers for each of the past six years:
3. The review for the first half of the year has also been published today and is available to view here.
