ONE of Britain’s leading racehorse owners has donated £500,000 of prize money earned by 20 of his horses this season to a rehabilitation centre.

Al Shaqab’s Super 20 initiative, created by His Excellency Sheikh Joaan Al Thani whereby all UK and Irish prize money won by a selected group of horses throughout the 2014 season would be donated to the Injured Jockeys Fund’s (IJF) second rehabilitation centre, Jack Berry House, which is being built in Malton.

The first donation was made when Olympic Glory won the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May and there have subsequently been large contributions from other horses involved including Osaila, Baitha Alga and Ah Thakhira.

His Excellency also donated £53,499 won by the Wow Signal in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot after meeting Jack, who is vice president of the IJF, despite the horse not being part of the Super 20 group.

The total amount that has been raised is £491,895.08 with His Excellency Sheikh Joaan Al Thani rounding off the final amount going to the charity to £500,000.

Harry Herbert, Racing Advisor to Al Shaqab, said: "After watching the Channel 4 feature on Jack Berry House, His Excellency was determined to raise as much money as possible through this initiative to help such a fantastic cause.

"All of the Al Shaqab team are delighted to be able to present Jack Berry with a cheque for the incredible sum of £500,000 which couldn’t be more appropriate given today’s news.”