The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) published the 2027 fixture list on 3 September 2026. At that stage 1,440 fixtures had been scheduled, including 52 Premier Racedays. In a blog published on 27 August, BHA Director of Racing Richard Wayman said he expected the list to include approximately 1,440 fixtures, 18 fewer than in 2026, but that the total number of programmed races would remain similar because racecourses deferring a fixture date were re-distributing its races across their remaining programme. Neither the release nor the blog gives a race count for 2027.
The release gives a breakdown by code and session, with comparisons for earlier years, only as an image. The PDF version of the list notes that all BHA fixtures allocated to Chelmsford City are subject to the course having obtained a racecourse licence, and several Flat fixtures are listed with the venue to be confirmed.
Why the BHA did not cut harder
Wayman wrote that since the pandemic the horse population had been falling by between one and two per cent each year. Moving races from deferred fixtures into remaining meetings, he said, also reduces the number of six-race cards for racegoers. Modelling showed that a significant cut in fixtures or races would hit media rights and levy income by several million pounds, at a time when betting turnover was falling, which he linked to the introduction of financial risk assessments and the associated loss of bettors to the black market.
In the end and after considerable debate, the BHA Board concluded that the sport’s interests would be best served by seeking to support prize money and our long-term growth agenda, meaning, therefore, the volume of racing would remain largely unchanged in 2027.
Richard Wayman, Director of Racing, British Horseracing Authority, 27 August 2026
Wayman added that moving away from the traditional annual fixture process to something that plans further ahead is high on the agenda of Simon Cox, then the incoming Chair. Cox formally took up the role on 1 October, according to a BHA statement issued that day.
Prize money and bonuses
The funding decision followed on 2 October, when the BHA said the Horserace Betting Levy Board had approved a £2.2m increase in prize money funding for 2027, which the BHA estimates will deliver a £3m increase in prize money and associated bonuses. Wayman’s blog puts the additional funding the Levy Board approved a year earlier at £4.4m. Developmental races make up about 20% of the race programme, and £1,000 will be added to the minimum values of all developmental races staged in Britain in 2027. Minimum values for Class 4 to 6 races on the Flat and Class 3 to 5 over Jumps will also rise.
The Great British Bonus, which Wayman says pays out nearly £6m a year, will be extended from 2027 to 100% British-bred Jump geldings and entires, with bonuses for geldings set at 50% of the equivalent filly or mare bonus, up to £10,000 per race. The BHA cites the lengthy timescales involved and competition from overseas as the reason.
Equanine’s reading
- The BHA has chosen income over contraction. Holding race numbers while the horse population falls by 1% to 2% a year makes field sizes the obvious pressure point, and racecourses absorbing races from deferred fixtures will need the runners to fill them.
- The Levy Board’s £2.2m for 2027 is half the £4.4m approved a year earlier, and the measures announced are aimed at developmental races and Class 4 to 6 Flat and Class 3 to 5 Jump races. Owners at those levels are where the extra money will show.
- For breeders, the Great British Bonus extension is the most direct signal. It is aimed at British-bred Jump males, a market the BHA says faces long timescales and competition from overseas.
- The decision covers 2027 only. A plan that looks further ahead, if the new Chair delivers one, would matter more to racecourse business planning than an 18-fixture adjustment.
