Uk Horse Racing Plans First-ever Strike Over Betting Tax Hike

Four fixtures connected September 10 – Carlisle, Uttoxeter, Kempton and Lingfield Park – are group to beryllium called disconnected arsenic British racing prepares a one-day walkout successful protestation astatine a projected emergence successful betting taxation connected racing profits from 15 per cent to 21 per cent.

Why nan athletics is downing tools

Racing’s leaders opportunity nan Treasury scheme would wound hard. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) argues nan alteration would portion astir £66 cardinal a twelvemonth from nan athletics and frighten up to 2,752 jobs crossed training yards, racecourses and associated businesses. A one-day shutdown is estimated to costs astir £700,000 successful mislaid revenues, but nan BHA views it arsenic a basal show of force.

The timing is nary accident. The walkout lands 24 hours earlier nan St Leger Festival astatine Doncaster, ensuring nan statement complete taxation dominates nan speech arsenic 1 of level racing’s crown-jewel meetings gets underway.

What punters and bookies opportunity will hap next

Bookmakers pass that a steeper taxation connected their racing profits will person knock-on effects:

• Shorter likelihood / higher margins to walk connected costs to customers,
• Reduced sponsorship and advertizing successful nan sport, and
• A tilt successful finance towards online casino and gaming alternatively than equine racing.

Industry polling cited by campaigners suggests two-thirds of bettors fearfulness higher prices could shove immoderate wagering into nan achromatic marketplace – bad news for punter protection and for nan Levy that helps money nan sport.

What it intends for racegoers and nan regions

All 4 September 10 meetings will beryllium rescheduled, but nan contiguous headache is for owners, trainers, jockeys and racecourse unit who trust connected those cards for income. Beyond a azygous day, trainers pass of nan wider section hit: racing underpins jobs successful agrarian and coastal towns, from farriers and provender suppliers to hospitality and transport.

The BHA insists nan onslaught is simply a past resort, saying racing is already moving tight budgets and that a taxation jump to nan casino complaint would “tip nan athletics into semipermanent decline”. Ministers reason nan measurement simply aligns rates crossed gambling products.

British racing has chosen a high-profile infinitesimal to make its case. If nan Treasury holds firm, nan athletics says fans should expect thinner sponsorship, tighter likelihood and less pounds flowing backmost into nan game. If nan authorities blinks, it will beryllium because nan manufacture convinced Westminster that raising nan return risks shrinking nan cookware for everyone.

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