Artisan Dancer comes out on top as Horse of The Year as part of ARC All-Weather £1,000,000 Bonus Scheme
In its second year, the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus scheme has run from 17 October 2023, throughout the winter, and culminated on Good Friday, 29 March 2024.
The bonus has consisted of both a Horse of The Month and Horse of The Year competition, along with a bonus for the top Jockey and Apprentice Jockey at ARC’s four All-Weather Racecourses.
Points for the Horse of the Month and Horse of the Year competitions have been awarded to horses that have finished in the first five on any of their first three runs in any monthly period at Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Southwell or Wolverhampton Racecourses.
The Horse of the Month competition offered a total of £35,000 a month in prizes in October/November, December and January. The prize pot doubled in February and March to £70,000. There was also a prize pot of £10,000 per month paid to the staff connected to the stables of the horses in the top three places.
The Horse of the Year competition offered a £100,000 first prize, and was won by Artisan Dancer, trained by Charlie Johnston. The competition came to a head at Southwell on Thursday 28 March, where a third place for Artisan Dancer put him two points ahead of Tony Carroll’s Mamayuz, who shot into second place with an excellent win.
Over £650,000 will be paid down to 20th place, with the horse in that position earning a £10,000 bonus.
It has been an extremely competitive All-Weather season which is reflected in the Horse of The Year standings with just one point separating third placed The Craftymaster (47pts) from joint third-placed horses Enola Grey (46pts) and Intervention (46pts).
The rejuvenation of The Craftymaster has been one of the stories of this All-Weather season. The 4yo came close to retirement but has enjoyed a remarkable change in fortune since moving to the Tony Carroll yard back in October rising 24lbs in the handicap.
A summary of all of the winners across the ARC All-Weather £1,000,000 Bonus is below. The final standings in both the Horse of the Month and Horse of the Year competitions were decided on countback down to number of 5th placed finishes, wherever two or more horses were tied on points.
ARC All-Weather £1,000,000 Bonus Scheme Horse of The Month winners:
March (£70,000 total)
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Owner | Total Horse Prize |
| 1st= | DANIELSFLYER | David Thompson | Elliott Brothers and Peacock | £17,500 |
| 1st= | CEPHALUS | Gary Moore | Mr Veljko Jovanovic | £17,500 |
| 1st= | LOUGH LEANE | David Simcock | Twenty Stars Partnership | £17,500 |
| 1st= | MAMALOUKA | Amy Murphy | D MacAuliffe | £17,500 |
February (£70,000 total)
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Owner | Total Horse Prize |
| 1st= | PALLAS LORD | Donald Whillans | Mr D. W. Whillans | £30,000 |
| 1st= | SENNOCKIAN | Charlie Johnston | The Burke Family | £30,000 |
| 2nd= | BELLA BLUESKY | Ewan Whillans | Harrow Whillans | £2,500 |
| 2nd= | GUSTAV GRAVES | Derek Shaw | Big Lachie Syndicate | £2,500 |
| 2nd= | MASQOOL | James Evans | Peter Clarke Racing Partners | £2,500 |
| 2nd= | NEPTUNE LEGEND | Tony Carroll | Mr N Sfrantzis | £2,500 |
January (£70,000 total)
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Owner | Total Horse Prize |
| 1st= | BOBBY JOE LEG | Ruth Carr | Mrs Angela Clark | £14,000 |
| 1st= | BEAUZON | Ian Williams | Beaunus Hunters | £14,000 |
| 1st= | BONITO CAVALO | Jim Goldie | Whitestonecliffe Racing Partnership | £14,000 |
| 1st= | OPTIK | David Simcock | John Cook & Partner | £14,000 |
| 1st= | HE’S AN ANGEL | Peter Niven | Mr G. Lavery | £14,000 |
December (£35,000 total)
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Owner | Total Horse Prize |
| 1st | INTERVENTION | Michael Appleby | The Horse Watchers 8 | £20,000 |
| 2nd | ENOLA GREY | Gemma Tutty | Cragg Wood Racing | £10,000 |
| 3rd= | THAPA VC | Mark Rimell | The Circle Of Five | £2,500 |
| 3rd= | STORYMAKER | George Boughey | Hot To Trot Racing 2 and Partner | £2,500 |
October & November (£35,000 total)
| Position | Horse | Trainer | Owner | Total Horse Prize |
| 1st= | EAGLE’S REALM | David Killahena & Graeme McPherson | The Good Racing Company Ltd | £15,000 |
| 1st= | BANKRUPT | Chelsea Banham | Mulligans Racing Club | £15,000 |
| 2nd = | STAR OF ST LOUIS | Matt Crawley | Mr Wayne Lukas | £2,000 |
| 2nd = | SYDNEY BAY | Geoffrey Harker | J Kay | £2,000 |
| 2nd = | THE CALTONIAN | Linda Perratt | Mr M. Sawers | £2,000 |
| 2nd = | GIRL FROM ITALY | Mark Walford | Mr Keith Brown | £2,000 |
| 2nd = | INTOXICATA | Ed Dunlop | Mr Paul Turner | £2,000 |
ARC All-Weather £1,000,000 Bonus Scheme Horse of The Year Competition:
Full standings for the Horse of The Year are listed below with prize money paid out from 1st position down to 20th.
| ARC £1,000,000 HORSE OF THE YEAR COMPETITION | ||||||||||
| Pos | Prize | Horse | Trainer | Total Points | Wins | 2nds | 3rd | 4th | 5th | |
| 1 | £100,000 | Artisan Dancer | Charlie Johnston | 53 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | £75,000 | Mumayaz | Tony Carroll | 51 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 3 | £50,000 | The Craftymaster | Tony Carroll | 47 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | £45,000 | Enola Grey | Gemma Tutty | 46 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | £42,500 | Intervention | Micheal Appleby | 46 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 6 | £40,000 | Pallas Lord | Donald Whillans | 45 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 7 | £37,500 | Likeashadow | Alan Brown | 45 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| 8 | £35,000 | The Caltonian | Linda Perratt | 44 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | £32,500 | Gustav Graves | Derek Shaw | 44 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 | £30,000 | Intoxicata | Ed Dunlop | 44 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | £27,500 | Darlo Pride | Anthony Carson | 42 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 12 | £25,000 | Cusack | David Thompson | 38 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 13 | £22,500 | Big Narstie | Michael Appleby | 36 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | £20,000 | Bonito Cavalo | Jim Goldie | 35 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 15 | £18,500 | Bobby Shaftoe | Jim Goldie | 35 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 16 | £16,500 | Sibyl Charm | Iain Jardine | 35 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 17 | £14,500 | Pepsi Cat | Steph Hollinshead | 34 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | £12,000 | Red Walls | Lisa Williamson | 34 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 19 | £11,000 | Bradman | Charlie Fellowes | 34 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| 20 | £10,000 | Goldsmith | Alice Haynes | 33 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
ARC All-Weather Bonus – Top Jockeys
As part of the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus scheme, the top Jockey and Apprentice Jockey, by wins, at each of the four ARC Racecourses will receive a bonus of £7,000 and £3,000 respectively.
Where jockeys are tied on wins, the winner is determined on countback of second, third, fourth, then fifth places if necessary
| Jockey | Wins | Apprentice Jockey | Wins | ||
| Lingfield Park | Rossa Ryan | 16 | Joe Leavy | 5 | |
| Newcastle | Jason Hart | 23 | Jonny Peate | 14 | |
| Southwell | Jason Hart | 9 | Billy Loughnane | 4 | |
| Wolverhampton | Rossa Ryan | 38 | Billy Loughnane | 27 |
Separate from the ARC All-Weather £1,000,000 Bonus Scheme, the All-Weather Championships also concluded on Good Friday, with the following securing the top Trainer, Owner, Jockey and Apprentice titles.
All-Weather Trainers Championship:
After yet another magnificent campaign on the All-Weather which has resulted in a total of 43 winners, Mick Appleby landed an eighth All-Weather Trainers Championship title and receives £10,000.
Appleby has become renowned for rejuvenating horses from other yards and this season has been no different with the likes of Penzance who has improved 25lbs since joining Appleby from the Simon & Ed Crisford yard.
All-Weather Jockeys’ Championship:
An All-Weather Jockeys’ Championships and All-Weather Apprentice Jockeys’ Championship have comprised part of the £1,000,000 All-Weather bonus as well.
Rossa Ryan was crowned Champion All-Weather Jockey at Newcastle on Friday and will receive the Great British Racing sponsored £10,000 prize for the 85 winners he has steered to victory during the Winter, with Billy Loughnane collecting the £5,000 runners up prize.
Billy Loughnane was awarded £4,000 after being confirmed the winningmost apprentice jockey throughout the All-Weather season for a second consecutive season. He finished a remarkable 39 winners clear of Aidan Keeley who receives £1,000 for finishing in second place.
All-Weather Owners’ Championship:
For a remarkable 10th season in a row, Godolphin have been crowned All-Weather Champion Owners, a title that they have held concurrently since Season 2 of the All-Weather Championships.
