Having gone into the busy holiday schedule amid talk of plummeting betting turnover and a black hole on the sport’s balance sheet, there is at least a smattering of reasons to be cheerful as racing sets off into 2025.

The domestic Christmas programme delivered on every level, with Constitution Hill, Sir Gino and The New Lion in particular hinting at a long-awaited revival in UK jumping’s competitiveness at the spring festivals. Galopin Des Champs, meanwhile, set up an attempt to become the first three-time Gold Cup winner for 20 years with an emphatic success at Leopardstown’s four-day meeting, where Brighterdaysahead also looked like an exciting new talent over hurdles.

And while the weather wiped out the jumps programme on the first weekend of 2025, Ascot chose the slightly odd time of 2pm on Sunday afternoon to announce a big boost to the prize fund for Britain’s most prestigious all-aged Flat race, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in late July. This year’s race will be worth £1.5m, placing it alongside the Derby in June as the country’s most valuable race, while it will also be Britain’s first “run for free” contest, with entry fees – except for supplementaries – refunded to owners if their horses eventually go to post.

Even a £1.5m prize fund is, admittedly, a long way short of the money on offer for some of the world’s other top 12-furlong races on turf. There is €5m (£4.15m) in the kitty for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October and $5m (£4m) on offer for the Breeders’ Cup Turf in early November, while the 1.085m yen (£6m) Japan Cup trumps them all.

But the extra quarter of a million for the King George, which will ensure it is the richest race ever staged at Ascot, is still a significant statement of intent by the track at a time when, for instance, the Jockey Club has announced a prize-money freeze at its 15 tracks in 2025. So how has Ascot – and not for the first time – managed to buck the trend?

One point that should probably be made at the outset, not least out of fairness to the rest of Britain’s racecourses big and small, is that Ascot has a something of a head-start in terms of its ownership (by the reigning monarch), its history, its unique showpiece meeting in June and the invaluable brand-recognition that comes attached, both in Britain and around the world.

Ascot also has a fine track record for exploiting its distinctive appeal to the full, attracting horses from around the world to the Royal meeting in particular.

But there was a nod too to another, more recent boost to the track’s income in its decision to refund entry fees to the owners of horses in the King George field, which will cost around £1,900 per runner.

“We have been thinking about the concept of ‘Run For Free’ for the King George for some time as a mechanism for incentivising runners at decision-making time,” Nick Smith, the director of racing and public affairs, said.

“Field sizes are very important, especially in the World Pool era, and we hope that connections of horses that aren’t at the top of the betting might see this as a good reason to go for the big target, especially with record prize money on offer.”

It may come as a surprise to many regular punters that we are now living in the “World Pool era”, but selling British racing to the huge pool-betting market in Asia has become an increasingly important source of funds for elite tracks around the world since World Pool launched at Royal Ascot in 2019.

Last year’s schedule had expanded to include race-days in Saudi Arabia and Dubai – where betting locally is strictly prohibited – as well as Ireland, Germany, South Africa and Australia, while seven courses in Britain – Ascot, Newmarket, Goodwood, York, Epsom, Sandown and Newbury – had at least one fixture with a World Pool race.

A full day on the World Pool schedule is understood to be worth between £300k and £650k to the track depending on turnover, and turnover is closely linked to field sizes, so refunding entry fees could make a lot of sense if it ensures a double-figure field for Ascot’s prestige event.

There is a sense in which World Pool is allowing tracks like Ascot, Goodwood and York to follow the example set by the Premier League in exploiting their instant brand recognition in overseas markets.

As racing waits – and waits, and waits – for the government to address its requests for levy reform and its concerns over affordability checks, it is an important additional revenue stream, albeit one that – like the EPL’s riches – is a benefit to a very limited number of tracks. It also depends on the continuing enthusiasm and involvement of punters who are 6,000 miles away in China.

World Pool is probably not the answer to all of racing’s prayers, in other words, but it is certainly plugging some gaps at a difficult time – while Ascot, once again, is underlining its significance to the sport as a whole.