The first of this season’s ARC All-Weather Horse of the Month bonuses for October & November has been shared by Eagle’s Realm and Bankrupt. Connections will receive £15,000 each of the £30,000 total purse after finishing tied at the top of the leaderboard with 3 wins from 3 starts and 15 points each.
From 17 October 2023 to Good Friday March 29 2024, over £1,000,000 will be awarded to owners, trainers, jockeys and racing staff connected with the most consistent performers at ARC’s four All-Weather racecourses.
Points are awarded for finishing in 1st place down to 5th, and the horse with the most overall points at the end of the season will receive a bonus of £100,000 and be crowned Horse of The Year. Points are accrued in a horse’s first three runs in any monthly period at Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Southwell and Newcastle.
The David Killahena & Graeme McPherson-trained five-year-old Eagle’s Realm has won all three of his starts on the All-Weather since October, at Wolverhampton, Newcastle and Southwell.
Phil Hawthorne of The Good Racing Company Limited, owners of Eagle’s Realm, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to win the bonus. It’s a fabulous initiative by ARC and it is great to be the joint-first winner of the season.
I think owners and trainers who don’t consider the bonus are missing out. It is certainly something we are going to try and build on.”
The Chelsea Banham-trained four-year-old Bankrupt has gone up 14lb since October 24, winning two sprint handicaps at Wolverhampton and one at Lingfield Park.
Newmarket-based Banham said of her stable star: “We are over the moon. The bonus is a big incentive, especially for owners as it is a big boost. Bankrupt has come out of his last race well so we’ll continue to run him through the winter and see what he can do. The horse comes first, but the [horse of the year] bonus is on our radar.”
For more information on the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus Scheme, please visit
https://www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk/racing/the-all-weather-bonus
