THE 2027 Budget will be revealed on Tuesday, October 6th. The media focus will probably be on fuel subsidies, tax changes and childcare.

There won’t be much comment on the annual Government grant to horseracing. It’s been just under €80 million for the past two years and is probably due a modest bump up this year.

I’m preaching to the converted here (hopefully!) but I truly believe it is a great value investment on behalf of the state. The economic activity and tax revenue driven by that lump sum every year is in the billions.

The key point here is that the Government grant is not dependent on betting revenue from Irish horseracing. Horseracing and breeding stands up as an agricultural industry that merits this seed capital.

Now contrast that with the situation in Britain. The British Horseracing Authority is not a state body, it is a company owned by industry stakeholders. And it is funded by solely by income derived from bookmakers as a percentage of the gross profit on their British horserace betting.

The industry’s fortunes are so closely tied to those of the bookmakers that it is (in theory) in the BHA’s best interests that bookies win and punters lose.

In practical terms, the BHA is almost obliged to provide plenty of ‘product’ for bookmakers to offer to punters.

The big problem (or one of them, anyway) for British racing now is that betting and gambling of all types are increasingly being seen by the general public, regulators and politicians as a social evil. Betting taxes are being increased and betting shops are closing. The betting levy payments from bookmakers to racing are expected to come under pressure.

Fixture list

There is another critical difference between Irish and British racing which really hammers home that point. In Ireland, Horse Racing Ireland has full control of the fixture list. Okay, there is probably a limit to HRI’s powers in this regard but basically every single racecourse would listen to HRI if the authority proposed a chage to the fixture list.

But in Britain the racecourses own their own fixtures. They can buy and sell them off each other. And even though owners, trainers, jockeys, breeders and punters say there is too much racing in Britain (and the prize money spread too thinly) those racecourses will not give up a single racedate without a fight.

The BHA published the 2027 fixture list the other day. There will be virtually no change in the number of races and fixtures in Britain next year, and this despite a falling horse population every year since Covid.

As BHA director Richard Wayman explained: “On the face of it, cutting the number of fixtures and races in 2027 would appear an obvious step to take given the declining horse numbers and our desire to provide fans with consistently competitive and engaging racing……Financial projections were also produced, however, showing how the sport’s major revenue streams – namely, media rights and levy – would be hit by several million pounds as a direct result of a significant reduction in fixtures or races.”

And that’s it in a nutshell – they know too much racing is damaging the sport but they just can’t afford to cut back either.

New BHA chairman

As you probably have read elsewhere, this saga has torn apart the Race Course Association in Britain and nobody really knows what happens now.

Simon Cox takes over as chairman of the BHA on October 1st. He’s a long-standing racehorse owner and breeder, and a very successful businessman. The racing industry will be looking to him for leadership on this problem.

I think he should go to Government with a proposal that British racing should be funded directly by the state and not be dependent on betting turnover. There are 20,000 people employed in the industry in Britain and it generates an estimated £4 billion in economic activity. That’s roughly twice as big as the Irish racing/breeding industry, and on that basis it justifies nearly £200 million in state investment, which is double what it currently gets from the Levy.

A healthy British racing scene is good news for Ireland. Irish-trained horses won over £20 million (€23.3 million) in British races last year and HRI’s 2025 Factbook says that 3,684 of the 5,128 (72%) Irish-bred horses exported last year went to Britain.

Yes, it would great to see the Irish Government increase its funding for racing on October 6th but it’s probably more important for Irish racing that the sport in Britain gets its finances in order.