The second round of the Racing League 2023 is staged at the beautiful Chepstow Racecourse on Thursday 10 August before concluding five rounds later at Southwell on the 13 September. All these meetings are shown live on Sky Sports Racing. 

The Racing League brings an exciting new format of flat horse racing to the UK this summer. There are seven regional teams contesting six evening meetings with fan engagement at the centre of the events. This year there three new venues including Yarmouth, Chepstow and Wolverhampton. The teams will compete over 42 races, with prize money of more than £2m up for grabs, as well as a £50,000 bonus for the winning team. To encourage the jockeys to ride to the line, there is £5,000 awarded to each of the winning team’s seven jockeys, and £20,000 to the jockey that scores the most individual points over the competition.

The Racing League 2023 is now up and running with Wales & The West taking an early lead after racing at Yarmouth on the first leg. Here are the team standings:

Teams can boost their chances of doubling their points by playing a joker in any 2 of the 42 races. The team manager will announce his intention to play a Joker in the Paddock, directly before the selected race. This will be done by placing a Joker Token alongside the team name on the scoreboard in the Paddock.

Jockey league table showing rides, wins, seconds, thirds, unplaced and points

 1 Saffie Osborne   4 3 0 0 1 75
 2 Kieran Shoemark  7 0 1 1 5 60
 3 Marco Ghiani     4 1 0 0 3 47
 4 Ross Coakley     3 1 1 0 1 46
 5 Ben Curtis       6 0 0 1 5 44
 6 Frankie Dettori  2 1 1 0 0 43
 7 Cam Hardie       4 0 0 1 3 39
 8 Luke Morris      3 0 1 0 2 38
 9 Callum Shepherd  3 1 0 0 2 36
10 Ben Robinson     4 0 1 0 3 36
10 Connor Beasley   5 0 1 0 4 36
12 Adam Farragher   5 0 0 0 5 36
13 Josephine Gordon 2 0 0 2 0 30
14 R Clutterbuck    2 0 1 0 1 28
15 J Mitchell       2 0 0 1 1 23
16 Tom Eaves        4 0 0 0 4 21
17 Frederick Larson 2 0 0 1 1 18
18 S D Bowen        3 0 0 0 3 15
19 Ray Dawson       2 0 0 0 2 13
20 Hayley Turner    3 0 0 0 3 12
21 Trevor Whelan    1 0 0 0 1  0

Jeremy Wray, CEO of Racing League, said: "The aim is always to grow and improve the Racing League from one year to the next. The aim is always to grow and improve the Racing League from one year to the next. Moving to tracks around the regions offers the opportunity to encourage more local support, while adjusting the ratings bands of some races will broaden the number of horses and owners involved." 

Frankie Dettori is an eye-catching addition to the roster of seven managers attempting to win this year’s competition. He leads a strong East team who will be one of the favourites to wrestle the title from last year’s winners, Jamie Osborne’s Wales & The West. Matt Chapman’s London & The South will be hoping to go one better after leading up until the final day last year, whilst Mick Quinn and Leonna Mayor have last year’s top trainers, Richard Fahey and Tim Easterby, to spearhead their respective challenges for The North and Yorkshire. Ireland and Scotland, who will again be managed by Kevin Blake and Linda Perratt respectively and Leonna Mayor is team manager for Yorkshire. A total of 135 yards have registered to compete, up from 125 in 2022.

Among those set to have their first Racing League runners this year are Sir Michael Stoute, joining Frankie’s ranks in The East, Michael & David Easterby extending their family ties in Yorkshire and Hughie Morrison adding strength to Scotland.

The Racing League will see jockeys obliged to carry the whip purely for safety and correction purposes under BHA ‘hands and heels’ conditions, which have been used in a series for apprentice jockeys. It is this rule that is attracting further media attention and something the fans have been asking for.

The Racing Horse is proud and grateful to have been invited to Chepstow Racecourse as part of the proceedings, and will offer our insightful Chepstow Racecourse Template available from 5pm Wednesday 9 August 2023.

Here is the full fixture list for this year's competition:

This ingenious formulation has been well received by trainers. David Evans contributed the most runners to the victorious Wales & The West team in 2022, earning his stable staff a bonus of £8,450. Evans said: "Racing League is a brilliant concept and far more racing should be like this. The prize money for everyone involved - owners, trainers and stable staff - is fantastic! 

Last year, Saffie Osborne pulled off a stunning 6500/1 treble at Newcastle on the final night to snatch Racing League leading jockey and a £20,000 bonus, edging out Sean Levey in the process. Unbelievably, she kick-started her Racing League 2023 campaign with another winning treble on the opening night for Wales & The West at Yarmouth, so her rides at Chepstow will naturally attract attention. We will look closely at her rides with our next Chepstow Racecourse Template. Other jockey winners from the first leg of six was Ross Coakley, Marco Ghiani, Callum Shepherd and the great Frankie Dettori and we look forward to seeing the greatest jockey we have ever seen ride at Chepstow Racecourse. At the course he scores 26-92 for 28%.

Chris Grassick, joint trainer with William Muir, also formed part of the Wales & West team, with his stable picking up over £7,000 as part of the winner's bonus. He said: "He said: “The prize money and competitive racing made for an exciting day out for both owners and staff. The hospitality for the owners was top class and being part of the winning team was great for the hardworking team at home who all got to share in the prize fund.”  

The Racing Horse welcomes innovation, fan engagement and accessibility to British horse racing and congratulate all parties and participants. Sky Sports Racing hope the audience will enjoy this new format, and are to be commended for their participation also.

General Manager of Chepstow Racecourse Lindsay Knox is also looking forward to this interactive racing experience, she told TRH: "Join us at Chepstow as the team competition unfolds in Race Week 2 of the Racing League - the contest is hotting up! Spice up your Thursday night and get in on all the action of the Racing League as the competition visits Wales for the first time. Pick your team and experience the thrill of watching them race for top spot and don't forget to look out for the one and only Frankie Dettori who will be here on the day."

The Racing Horse will be at Chepstow to witness all the action and will post a review of the meeting on Friday 11 August. Naturally we will be cheering on Wales & The West and urge our readers to get involved. Look out for our Chepstow Racecourse Template presented the day before racing...

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