THE ball has now moved firmly into the court of Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure a financial lifeline to the province’s two racecourses, Down Royal and Downpatrick, currently gripped by a funding crisis.

Downpatrick is Ireland’s oldest racetrack with a 330-year history and 146 races are hosted each year by the two northern tracks. Down Royal attracts an average of 7,200 people per meeting while Downpatrick attracts 4,500.

“The north’s equine industry supports 5,675 jobs with a value spend of €110 million per annum but while government provides £62m for GAA and £14.5m for Ulster Rugby, however the funding for horse racing is zero,’’ said Stephen McGrath of public relations consultants Weber Shandwick.

Northern racing relies on the Horse Racing Fund to which bookmaker shops currently pay a fee of £1,123 - down from £2,000 in the past five years - and significantly less than the £6,000 paid by shops in Britain. There are 323 bookmaker shops in the north. Meanwhile on-course bookmakers in the north pay DARD a fee of £99.

Back in 2008, the DARD-commissioned KPMG report estimated the value for the shop fee should be £3,333.

Chairman of Down Royal and HRI board member, Jim Nicholson, told The Irish Field that the funding lobbying process with DARD started 18 months ago. “We flagged this issue and asked for action. We went to the bookmakers three times asking for a meeting which they refused. They should be coming to the table and paying a fair and equitable share. They are now only paying £1,123 per shop and we cannot survive at this.”

Richard Lyttle, manager of Downpatrick racecourse said: “The two northern tracks are in a bit of a no-man’s land in that we don’t fit in with the British model. We are in a different position. Our message is let’s keep racing.”

Some 20% of the racegoers of Down Royal and Downpatrick coming from outside Northern Ireland, illustrating both the high visibility and impact of their meetings.

Horse Racing Ireland supports 32-country horseracing.

Brian Kavanagh of HRI told The Irish Field: ”Since the start of the year, HRI has provided increased funding of circa €150,000 to prizemoney at the two northern tracks in order to maintain it at national levels. This was in response to a severe cutback in the Northern Ireland Horse Racing Fund. This is only a temporary measure until the end of the year pending a review of the funding arrangements.

“The funding from the betting sector in Northern Ireland is much lower than the equivalent in either the Republic or Britain - bookmakers pay no levy on any bets on racing unlike the rest of their British counterparts, and we estimate that the per shop contribution is less than 10% of the equivalent contribution in the ROI.”

A spokesperson from DARD told this newspaper: “The Horse Racing Fund (HRF) operates in the north of Ireland to distribute monies from local bookmakers for the benefit of our local racecourses. The amount of the HRF Levy is periodically reviewed to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

“The HRF was last reviewed in 2008/9 when the local racecourses reached an agreement with the local bookmakers for a five-year increase to £2,000 per year. As part of that deal, the levy returned to its previous rate of £1,123 in 2015.

“Racecourses and Bookmakers have asked that DARD review this rate for the year 2016 and a consultative process is now underway. The Department hopes to begin this consultation in the summer and have a revised rate, if it is thought necessary following the review, in place for 2016.”

Northern bookmakers pointed out this week that they are happy to support racing in Down Royal and Downpatrick but feel that the betting exchanges and internet betting have to also pay their share.