The Levy Board in Britain is set to drop its prize money contribution to racing from £31 million in 1995/6 to £24 million in 1997/8 in order "to balance the books" it was announced yesterday.

Rodney Brack, the board's chief executive, said: "We need to cut overall expenditure." He said the Board, which will lose £5.7 million in 1995/6, will only just return to profitability in 1996/7 with a projected £771,000 in credit. By 1998/9 that profit will have climbed to £2.7 million.