Racing League 2025: Team guide and tournament explainer

The Racing League returns to Sky Sports Racing this summer, with seven teams competing to be crowned champions over six weeks and over £2m in prize money up for grabs.

Thursday evenings are transformed as highly competitive action comes to Yarmouth, Wolverhampton, Chepstow, Windsor, Newcastle and Southwell.

Last year saw Wales & The West regain their title as Saffie Osborne's final-day treble secured victory over The East in second and London & The South in third. The 2023 champions Ireland were back in fourth.

What is the Racing League?

First launched in 2021, the Racing League was formed to bring a new team aspect to horse racing and aimed at attracting a new audience.

The seven teams, each made up of an initial group of six trainers and a selection of jockeys, compete in 42 races over the six meetings.

Each team has a manager who decides team selection for each race and can enter two runners in each race, except for Wolverhampton where track conditions limit the maximum field to 13 runners.

This year's six meetings:

Race week 1 (July 24) - Great Yarmouth

Race week 2 (July 31) - Wolverhampton

Race week 3 (August 7) - Chepstow

Race week 4 (August 14) - Windsor

Race week 5 (August 21) - Newcastle

Race week 6 (August 28) - Southwell

How it works?

There are 100 points up for grabs in each race, split from first to 10th place, and the team at the end of the six weeks with the most points will be crowned this year's champions.

First place is awarded 25 points, second place 18 points and third 15 points.

The same points system applies to jockeys, with £20,000 on offer for the jockey that scores the most individual points over the competition.

There is a £50,000 winner-takes-all prize for the winning team and a £35,000 prize pool to the jockeys of the winning team.

The joker

Each team manager can play a joker twice during the competition when there are at least 12 horses running in a race (or 11 at Wolverhampton).

The joker will double any points won by that team, but does not apply to the jockey points.

The class of 2025

Dual Racing League winners Wales & The West are once again led by Jamie Osborne, with daughter Saffie seeking her fourth successive jockeys' title.

Trainer Charlie Fellowes steps up to lead The East with experienced rider Luke Morris, Daniel Muscutt, Callum Shepherd and Kieran Shoemark all on the roster.

Matt Chapman's London & The South can lean on the star-studded stables of Andrew Balding and Richard Hannon, while former Newcastle United footballer Mick Quinn is back to manage The North.

There are two new managers this year with Sky Sports Racing's Mick Fitzgerald stepping in to represent Ireland, who are once again bolstered by the inclusion of wonderkid Billy Loughnane.

Alex Steedman takes charge of Scotland, while Leonna Mayor returns with Yorkshire, who are mixing experience with youth in their jockey line-up.

Watch all the action from Racing League live on Sky Sports Racing from July 24.