RACEHORSE owners and racecourses have been hailed as two of the pillars keeping the show on the road as key industry statistics for 2020 confirmed the colossal impact Covid-19 has had on the sector.

Following a 10-week shutdown and more than seven months of racing behind closed doors, it was no surprise to see attendances and on-course betting down by 90% last year. Significant falls in the amount of prize money paid out and in the value of bloodstock sales at auction were also predictable.

However, the resilience of Irish racing’s ownership base emerged as one of the few bright spots in the report published yesterday by Horse Racing Ireland. The number of horses returned in training in Ireland has risen for a fourth time in five years, with a 3.3% increase recorded in 2020.

The total number of active owners has increased to 4,080, a rise of 0.5%. There was a modest increase in the number of sole owners/partnerships and syndicates; the number of companies registered as owners remains the same as in 2020; while the number of racing clubs has risen by 6%. Owner retention is at 73.6%, a decrease of 1.5% on the previous year. The owner retention figure refers to the percentage of 2019 active owners who made a race entry in 2020.

HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh said: “The figures for the numbers of horses-in-training continued to grow year-on-year and this says so much about those involved in racehorse ownership. It is a testament to their resilience in the face of very challenging circumstances that they continue to stand by the industry and we look forward to a time when we can safely welcome owners – and obviously racegoers – back to our racetracks.

“Owners’ ongoing support is felt across the board and the numbers of horses in racing yards directly reflects on employment levels within the industry and on widespread economic activity in rural Ireland.”

Paddy Walsh, CEO of the Association of Irish Racecourses, also picked out the ownership numbers as “a very positive sign” in what was otherwise a grim set of statistics.

“We didn’t need to see the figures to know that attendances and on-course betting levels had been wiped out,” Walsh said. “The effects of Covid-19 have gone on much longer than anyone originally thought. I would imagine most racecourses are digging into their reserves to keep racing every day.

“No business can keep losing money indefinitely but racecourses are doing this to keep the industry going. We are working closely with HRI to ensure that racecourses can benefit from any available funding in a fair and equitable way.”