The Racing League: Dates, schedule, prize money & stars to watch

The Racing League is a team horse racing event that first started in July 2021 and takes place over a five-week period from late July to August.

There are seven regional teams competing over 42 races, with over £2million in prize money up for grabs.

Each team consists of a team manager, a group of trainers and a team of jockeys who are selected for one team by the manager.

Racing League Dates

There are six Racing League meetings across a five-week period, with each venue offering entertainment alongside the horse racing action.

These are the meetings and dates for 2024:

Great Yarmouth	July 25th
Wolverhampton	August 1st
Chepstow	August 8th
Windsor	August 15th
Newcastle	September 22nd
Southwell	September 29th

Racing League Details 

The seven teams that compete against each other in six meetings are Ireland, London and The South, Scotland, The East, The North, Wales and The West and Yorkshire.

Each team enters two runners in 35 14-runner races, while the seven-race card at Wolverhampton will have 13-runner contests.

All races are handicaps, with a range of ratings, with each meeting having seven races over a mix of distances – 5f, 6f, 7f, 8f, 10f, 11f, 12f and 15f.

There are 100 points to be claimed in each race, with the below scoring system…

• 1st Place – 25 points
• 2nd Place – 18 points
• 3rd Place – 15 points
• 4th Place – 12 points
• 5th Place – 10 points
• 6th Place – 8 points
• 7th Place – 6 points
• 8th Place – 3 points
• 9th Place – 2 points
• 10th Place – 1 point
• 11th or lower – 0 points

Each Team Manager has the opportunity to play a Joker in any two of the 42 Racing League races, as long as there are at least 12 horses running.

That Joker will double the points won by that team's two horses in that race, although the double points will not apply to the individual jockey.

Racing League Prize Money

The overall Racing League prize fund is over £2million, with prize money split between owners, trainers, jockeys and yards.

There is also an additional £50,000 awarded to the winning team of the annual tournament.

The winning team's eight jockeys will collect a £35,000 prize pool, while the jockey that scores the most individual points in the competition will receive £20,000.

Racing League Stars to Watch

The likes of Oisin Murphy and Hayley Turner are amongst the well-known jockeys that have signed up to ride in the 2024 event.

Ex-footballer and radio star Mick Quinn is the team manager of The North, while ITV racing pundit Matt Chapman leads the London and The South team.

Leading trainer Linda Perratt will manage the Scotland camp, while former jump-jockey and now trainer Jamie Osbourne the team manager of Wales and The West.

Racing pundit Kevin Blake (Ireland) and former jockey and now pundit Leonna Mayor (Yorkshire) complete the list of 2024 team managers.

Television personality and sports presenter Chris Hughes takes the reins of The East team in place of Frankie Dettori.

Team TalkSport won the inaugural Racing League event in 2021, before the teams were then split into regions.

On a dramatic final night in Newcastle, it was Wales and The West who won the title in 2022, with Saffie Osborne riding three consecutive winners at the last meeting.

In 2023, Ireland narrowly clinched the Racing League title with a sensational treble in the final meeting at Southwell.