THE unveiling last week of Horse Racing Ireland’s half-year statistics yielded some positive news in terms of an increase in new owners and new syndicates, but looking beyond comparisons between the same periods in 2017 and 2018 there are some points of serious concern for Irish racing.

Firstly, there is the continuing decline in on-course bookmaker betting which came in at €26.1 million as against €29.5 million for the corresponding period in 2017. This in itself represents a decrease of over 11%, which is represents a substantial drop, but the situation for the on course market looks far more grave if we go back to the corresponding period in 2011.