The Horserace Betting Levy Board’s (HBLB) commitment to the disease surveillance, equine veterinary science research and education programme starting in 2026 is rising to £3.7m (2025/26: £2.76m). The Board is grateful to The Racing Foundation for its contribution of a further £200,000, bringing the total funds available to £3.9m, and to the Thoroughbred Breeders Association (TBA), the British European Breeders Fund (BEBF) and the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust for their continued support for projects begun in previous years.
Scheduled to start in the year from May 2026, the new activity, which is listed below at the end of this release, includes:
- 4 Major Research Projects
- 4 Small Research Projects
- 5 Research Scholarships
- 3 Post-Doctorate Fellowships
In addition, the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) and the TBA contribute towards the costs of the Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance activity.
HBLB’s Veterinary Advisory Committee (VAC) will continue to manage all ongoing work.
Alan Delmonte, Chief Executive of the Levy Board, said:
“Promoting and supporting veterinary science, disease surveillance and education remains a core objective of the HBLB. The Board’s Veterinary Advisory Committee rigorously assesses applications to inform funding decisions that underpin long-term programmes and support early career researchers. The Board is pleased to increase its commitment to £3.7 million for 2026, reflecting the continued importance of this work and the strength of the applications received, as well as maintaining a wider investment in equine health and well-being. The funding supports a balanced portfolio of major research projects, scholarships and fellowships.
The Board is grateful to The Racing Foundation for its additional contribution, and to our industry partners for their ongoing support.”
Tansy Challis, Chief Executive of the Racing Foundation, said:
"As part of our current strategy and key focus on equine welfare, the Racing Foundation works closely with Veterinary Advisory Committee (VAC) to support impactful equine veterinary research in partnership with the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB).
We prioritise investment in projects that have the potential to provide demonstrable, practical benefits for Thoroughbred racing and breeding and where findings can be effectively shared. Feedback from the VAC, alongside recommendations from Racing Foundation Trustees with advanced equine welfare expertise, have again ensured that funding is allocated to projects with strong scientific merit and direct relevance to the racing Thoroughbred.
Following the 2025/26 Equine Science Research Grants round, we are pleased to award £200,000 to the HBLB to support three important research projects. These include work led by the University of Oxford focusing on tendon injuries, the University of Nottingham on injury prevention, and the University of York investigating Rhodococcus equi, a bacterial infection affecting young horses.
With this latest award the Racing Foundation’s total investment in equine science research now exceeds £2 million, displaying our commitment to equine welfare in this context of evidence-based decision making.”
HBLB Equine Scientific and Education Awards 2026
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Major Projects
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Institute
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Project Title
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Professor Stephanie Dakin
* with £70,000 from Racing Foundation
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Oxford
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Pro-resolving therapies: A new therapeutic paradigm targeting inflammation in tendon injury
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Professor Paul Pryor
* with £70,000 from Racing Foundation
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York
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Understanding the survival of intracellular Rhodococcus equi
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Dr Laura Randall
*with £60,000 from Racing Foundation
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Nottingham
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Toward Racehorse Injury Prevention: A Computer Vision Based Approach for Monitoring Behaviour in Stabled Racehorses and Early Identification of Musculoskeletal Injuries
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Professor John Keen
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Edinburgh
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Harnessing the potential of advanced cardiac imaging for studying and treating atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias in Thoroughbred horses
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Small Projects
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Institute
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Project Title
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Joseph Neary
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Liverpool
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Advancing Thoroughbred Welfare and Performance: Real-time, Non-invasive Biomarker Monitoring using Dermal Smartpatches
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Professor Mandy Peffers
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Liverpool
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Evaluating Pomegranate Nanovesicles for Treating Equine Osteoarthritis
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James Adams
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Surrey
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Mixed microbial messages: Exploring the impact of microbial metabolites within the gut-lung axis on equine asthma associated lung inflammation using a lung cell line model.
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Sushant Bhat
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APHA
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Harnessing Mucosal Immunity to Prevent Equine Influenza Virus Spread
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Research Scholarship
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Institute
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Project Title
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Dr Ashley Roberts
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Lincoln
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Developing Equine Herpes antivirals from protein interaction inhibitor peptides
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Professor Mandy Peffers
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Liverpool
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Investigating cellular heterogeneity in tendon homeostasis and ageing using cutting-edge single-cell proteomics
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Dr Laura Peachey
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Bristol
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Start Strong: Understanding How Early-Life Interactions Between the Gut Microbiome, Immune function, and Helminth Infection Influence Long-Term Health and Performance in Thoroughbred Foals
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Dr April Lawson
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Liverpool
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Enhancing Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance with AI and Natural Language Processing
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Dr Susan Armstrong
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Surrey
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Investigating the role of pericytes in Exercise-induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage disease and progression
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Post Doctoral Fellowship
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Institute
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Project Title
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Dr Vinothini Prabharakan
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Edinburgh
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Engineering equine 3D biomimetic tendon macro-tissues for tendon repair
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Dr Emily Clarke
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Liverpool
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Equine Musculoskeletal Biology and Regenerative Medicine
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Dr Olivia Curry
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Edinburgh
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Equine Pain and Welfare
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For further information contact Annie Dodd, HBLB Grants Manager - Equine Veterinary Science and Education or Stan Wong, Grants Manager - The Racing Foundation.