RACING INTO TROUBLE
Serious doubts over the future of the sport with £200m losses forecast and fears over horses’ future if owners can’t pay
AS racing grapples with getting back up and running in some form, the black clouds increasingly looming concern the long-term damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. A £22million cash flow and hardship funding package was announced on Friday by the Levy Board and Racing Foundation, but there is concern that ramifications of the shutdown will be felt for years, rather than months.
An initial shutdown until the end of this month has now been given an open-ended extension with an acknowledgement that even though racing behind closed doors might be possible in May, it will be June at the earliest before crowds are allowed back — and that is the view of the optimists.
A letter to trainers stated British racing faces losing close to £200m in revenue if it remains closed down until July. There is also growing concern about how the uncertainty will affect owners, as their personal income streams are hit while most still have to pay training fees.
The package announced on Friday included £2.5m for a Racing Relief Fund to give support for horses if their owners are unable to pay for them — an issue that could have serious animal welfare implications.
One source said: ‘The worry is that owners who are struggling financially have to turn around to trainers and syndicate managers and say we can’t pay any more, the horse is yours.’
The RSPCA are aware of a potential problem and welcomed the Relief Fund.
David Muir, the RSPCA’s equine consultant, said: ‘I have been in contact with the BHA and we are being kept in the loop. I have also spoken to some trainers. We are not here to police anything but to help and advise if necessary.’
Plans to race at regional hubs are being worked on to convince the Government that racing can operate safely as society takes a tentative step back to normality.
Newmarket, with two tracks and a racing population on its doorstep, plus Newcastle in the north and Lingfield in the south — two allweather tracks with hotels on or nearby their sites allowing for quarantine of jockeys and officials — are the favoured sites.
With its ability to operate at rural locations, there is an argument that racing — an industry as much as a sport with 20,000 people directly or indirectly employed — should be one of the first sports to take steps out of lockdown. But the longer the current situation goes on, questions are stacking up and there are not many answers.
How many owners will still be able to afford horses if businesses are struggling or they have seen their salaries slashed? Will they be in a position to restock as usual later in the year during the bloodstock sales season — and if there is a fall in purchases, how much damage will that do to the breeding industry? How many sponsors will still be able to back racing as they have to tighten belts to concentrate on rebuilding their businesses?
How will it affect the relationship between the betting industry and racing? Ladbrokes Coral says the shutdown is costing £50m a month.
The Professional Jockeys’ Association launched a hardship fund for their toughest hit members, while trainers are not in a position, like many other employers, to furlough their staff with grooms needed to look after horses.
The closedown, which started on March 18, is costing the sport £7.5m a month in the Levy, the slice the sport is handed from profits made by bookmakers from betting.
Levy reserves only stand at about £45m and a chunk of that will be needed to kick-start racing when it grinds back into gear.
Former jockey Dale Gibson, now executive director of the PJA, said: ‘Prize money is going to take a hit. The whole industry must be aware. The last three weeks have been a significant eye opener for us.’
Scottish jumps track Perth, which has lost racing until at least July, reckons it has a £500,000 hole in its finances while Lingfield’s loss of the All-Weather Champions day on Good Friday — which attracts a crowd of 11,000 — represents a £500,000-£600,000 loss for owners Arena Racing Company.
Friday’s package also included £13.5m in advances and loans to tracks.
Royal Ascot stressed that if the situation eases enough to safely stage the meeting behind closed doors in June, the £8.1m prize money will have to be seriously revised.
More immediately, managing expectations will be a balancing act. All will be itching to get started but fields and meetings initially will have to be restricted .
Tim Palin, whose Middleham Park Racing is one of the biggest syndicate operators in the country with more than 100 horses spread around 34 trainers, said that sales of shares are down 40 per cent on normal March and April figures.
He added: ‘It is a testing time but our owners have been fantastic and very stoic. Racing seems very resilient.’