Walking On Clouds earns £100K HOTY Bonus Prize

As part of the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus initiative, the Horse of The Year bonus has been won by the Grant Tuer-trained Walking On Clouds (Gale Force Ten), who will receive £100,000 after accruing 48 points on the Horse of The Year leaderboard. The 4-year-old's All-Weather season included five wins, four seconds, two thirds and one fifth-placed effort.

In its inaugural season, the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus began Oct. 18 before ending on All-Weather Finals Day, Apr. 7. There are cash prizes for horses, who finish in the first 20 positions on the Horse of The Year leaderboard. The full results for the Horse of The Year competition will be confirmed Good Friday.

“I think it's been a great competition,” said Tuer. “The rules of the competition, the makeup of the competition and the monthly prizes with 20 prizes in the Horse of The Year competition has been fantastic. It's got everybody interested, certainly in the North where I am. Everybody is talking about it and it has been great fun. The extra money is fantastic.”

He added, “We're going to try and get into the six-furlong race at Lingfield on All Weather Championships Finals Day. It is a 0-95, so we're not guaranteed a run. If we did get a run we would definitely go there.”

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Laura Pearson Hits Pause on Riding Career to Preserve Claim

Apprentice Laura Pearson is taking a break from riding until the start of the Flat season in March. Pearson, who currently has a five-pound claim, announced the news at Wolverhampton on Sunday. On top of the apprentice jockeys' title race with 22 winners, Pearson has 23 winners left before her claim is reduced to three pounds. Pearson made the call after discussing the issue with trainer Tom Clover and her agent Steve Croft.

“We've had a good chat about it, myself and the governor [Clover] and my agent–and you've got to look at the bigger picture and save my five for those nice handicaps on the Turf,” Pearson told Sky Sports Racing. “I'm going to be 'box-walking' … but in the long run, it's the right thing to do.”

“I always had my blinkers on for it,” she added of the all-weather championship. “We'll see if I can keep my nose in front, and come back and bounce a couple more out if I do get a little bit short.”

“It's been absolutely incredible,” she said. “I've just got to keep my feet on the ground and keep my head straight. The amount of different trainers who have given me the opportunity to ride for them [means] every day I'm coming out and riding more, and everybody's helping me.”

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