Charlie Parker: British racing makes its point to Parliament

The #AxeTheRacingTax campaign led by the BHA against the proposed hike in the tax rate on online sports bets managed to cut through into the mainstream media, with the ‘strike’ day producing widespread coverage across the major news channels as well as the domestic and international press. The day itself saw four meetings cancelled as the industry came together for a well-attended event in Westminster.

The announcement that the Autumn Budget would not be delivered until November 26 has meant that the campaign has had to keep the pressure on, with targeted messaging aimed at decision  makers as well as continued letter writing to MPs amongst other initiatives. There remains a real threat to racing’s core funding and the knock-on impact in jobs, businesses and communities. It has been estimated that the increased tax rate could reduce revenues from racing to the Treasury by as much as £300 million. We must continue to hammer home our message in the hope that
we are being heard and, most importantly, listened to by those in positions of power and influence.

The two other areas of intense lobbying are the urgent need for levy reform, originally due in April 2024, and the continued curse of affordability checks. Racing is facing continued erosion of the real value of the levy, which not only supports prize-money but is also the largest funder of the BHA, while affordability checks are driving increasing numbers to black market websites, thus  denying crucial levy returns and placing punters outside of all safety nets.

We are fast approaching a new budget year for the BHA, which inevitably will include a review of fees that owners pay. In 2025, owners’ contribution to the BHA through fees totalled £9.7m, a full  £800,000 more than the net contribution made by all the racecourses put together. Over and above the £9.7m, owners made indirect contributions of a further £5.3m to various organisations and schemes, including jockeys’ career-ending insurance, professional riders’ insurance, Retraining of Racehorses, industry training, jockeys’ valets, jockeys’ pension fund, and stable staff.

Most of these contributions are either added to fees charged through your Weatherby’s racing accounts or as deductions from prize-money. The imbalance of the £15m versus the racecourse contribution of £8.9m highlights a real issue.

Owners are the biggest investors in British racing, dwarfing the amount paid by bookmakers. The BHA, in its new guise post the governance changes, must not lose sight of this basic fact and must represent our views to ensure we are not used to further bankroll the industry, especially as there are commercial avenues that are still to be explored.

There is undoubtedly room to examine and cut costs from the regulatory budget of the BHA and refocus the strategic spend. The list of contributions made by owners shows the wide range of pots being funded. There is an equally worrying list of projects, causes and initiatives that are also being centrally funded, either directly or indirectly by use of resources. This is a double-edged problem. Should owners/central funding be paying for the innumerable causes, and what oversight does the BHA have over the recipients?

The ROA made significant progress with the owners’ professional rider insurance contribution, but that is the tip of the iceberg. We will be urging the BHA to carry out a full root and branch review, to streamline and reduce this burden on owners and the industry.

Racecourse attendance figures have continued the positive upward trend for 2025, with numbers up by 5% overall and the recent Doncaster St Leger Festival showing significant uplift. This offers hope for the future. In addition, the results of Project Beacon highlighted the opportunities that exist, although continued downward trends on betting turnover and the very worrying noises around the foal crop show that the industry faces challenges on many levels.

Our sport has a real opportunity to develop, but it needs to exploit the recent unity and forge ahead with its growth strategy. The results of Project Pace, which seeks a transformational funding solution for British racing, should show us the possibilities that exist for our industry globally.