THE digital application of an old Show Jumping Ireland (SJI) prize money rule is under review after it emerged it could present a potential administration headache for shows.

Of old, SJI prize money has been allocated to the top six riders in a class of up to 30 with the rulebook stating that a further prize be paid to one in every five further riders per class up to 50, with an incremental payment due if the class was bigger still.

Depending on the size of the class and show, this rule did not always trickle right down to the lower end of the scale due to the tiny amounts that would have fallen due. Now, due to the enormous popularity of the SJI Live site and a new feature that automatically calculates the prize money every competitor would be due, it is under review.

Chair of Management and Finance committee at SJI, Ronan Corrigan, said there was absolutely no cause for alarm for riders or shows as the feature is tweaked to make it work for everyone involved. “Members may notice it when they log in that they can now see what prize money is due, right down to tiny amounts of say €1.13,” he said.

“This could be a nuisance for shows from an admin point of view rather than a financial one so we are doing some work in the background with all of the stakeholders and the website developer to see how we can tweak it.

“The onus is on the shows to pay the prize money due but SJI are certainly not going to get in the middle of their normal processes, it’s more of a case that the built-in calculation shows what would be due. The feature is more about allowing a rider to see what prize money a horse has won over a period and then when they come to doing the reconciliation of their costs it will be extremely useful.”

Fine-tuning

Corrigan added: “It is not there to penalise the shows, it’s just about conforming to the letter of the rulebook but we are looking at fine-tuning it so that riders could choose to have smaller amounts paid into their Stripe accounts to use toward future entries or having a cut off for amounts on the lower end.”

Corrigan said to date, most of the feedback on the feature had been positive and he was not concerned about shows running unaffiliated as a result of prize money due being more visible to riders.

“There is a lot of work going on in the background and we will be talking to show organisers, owners and riders to get it right,” he said.

“This will only affect about 10 shows in an entire year, there is no need for worry or concern, we are working hard to take any potential for an administration headache away.

“The SJI Live app has had over 110 million hits in the last six months, it’s taken on a life of it’s own as the go-to site for those interested in Irish horses and show jumping events.”