Reshaped BHA offers hope for the future

June sees the traditional events of the Derby meeting at Epsom followed quickly by Royal Ascot. Of course, this year we have the added pageantry of the Platinum Jubilee, emphasising British racing’s place at the heart of the summer social calendar. In addition, June should finally see the publication of the Gambling Act white paper, which will provide greater clarity on any new measures that may impact the overall revenues into British racing. Two very different events that could shape the future for our sport in the short and medium term.

It means British horseracing faces an uncertain future, both on and off the track. The disagreements, disputes and disquiet that find themselves reported in the public domain add to the

general impressions of dysfunctionality and disunity. If we are not careful, we are in danger of losing perspective and much-needed focus to deliver our collective agenda, which is to secure a healthy and economically viable future for the sport. There are sufficient macro-economic headwinds for the industry to tackle without infighting becoming the biggest barrier to success.

The recent announcements around the reshaping and restructuring of the BHA as our governing body, and how its member organisations play their role in its function, are critical to the future of racing and how we deal with government intervention and greater global competition. The work being done – which is long overdue – involves a change in mindset and deserves to be harnessed, with the requisite drive and energy, as

this has the potential to bring wholesale positive change to racing. With clear roles, responsibilities and reporting lines allowing the constituent parts to focus on and deliver their remits, it will end the current system of working in dislocated silos.

I welcome the proposed changes, which hopefully will result in clearly defined leadership roles for all the constituent bodies and provide a focus on establishing a strategy that the whole industry can get behind. This presents a real opportunity for change that the entire industry needs to embrace and support, to optimise the outcome for the betterment of the sport. We need to get behind this new structure so we can turn our attention to finding some practical, workable solutions for our most pressing issues.

The BHA recently announced its proposal to cut 300 races from the 2023 programme. There is a widespread view that there are too many races in British racing, but does it make sense to identify a number of races to remove from racecards and call this a solution, without fully understanding the impact on revenue?

Given a total of 10,354 races were run in Britain in 2021, 300 races equates to almost a 3% reduction. Some commentators have suggested this 3% cull could mean £4m in lost revenue. The data available to make key strategic decisions has not, in my view, been presented in a coherent format. We have not factored in some key variables that may be reversed in future years, ground conditions and wider macro-economic issues for instance.

An extensive strategic review covering the next five years needs to be launched as soon as possible to address the issues of field sizes, breed development and global competition.

Most importantly, we need an industry strategy that can be implemented and measured. The industry awaits further clarity as to what this reduction in races will look like, whether it will take the form of a diagonal slice across the race programme or focus on lower-grade races. The BHA must identify a race programme, with appropriate funding that is fair, which is representative of the demographics of the horse population in the UK.

I don’t want to be the harbinger of doom and gloom to discuss the current economic challenges, the cost-of-living crisis and the impact this has on racing. So any good news story has to be welcomed. Great British Racing, working alongside the ROA and Racehorse Syndicates Association, has pioneered a series of seven shared ownership days.

The idea behind shared ownership days is to impart information about syndicates and clubs to prospective owners. Syndicates are invited to sign up to share their stories and discuss opportunities for potential owners to get involved, with some having shares available to purchase on the day. This takes place alongside informative discussions from syndicate managers, trainers and industry experts, to generate interest and excitement in this initiative. Let’s hope this proves to be an attractive avenue into ownership for enthusiastic racegoers.