Drive to rescue horse racing finances launched after Priti Patel meeting

A visit by Priti Patel, the home secretary, to leading stables in Newmarket has sparked a fresh attempt to revive horse racing’s beleaguered finances.

Urgent behind-the-scenes discussions are taking place among leading figures in racing, in the belief they have just a matter of months to persuade the government to improve the sport’s funding before a Covid‑induced austerity bites. The talks were energised following an unofficial visit to Newmarket a fortnight ago by Patel and her husband Alex Sawyer.

The Guardian understands that Patel’s visit concluded with brunch at the Clarehaven Stables of John Gosden, Britain’s most successful trainer, with a number of the town’s other trainers present. William Haggas, who trains for the Queen, is also understood to have been in attendance.

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Strong views are said to have been expressed about the sport’s financial situation, which has long been a subject of concern but is now widely seen as dire because of the coronavirus crisis.

Her visit was arranged by Steve Harman, a former chairman of the sport’s ruling body the British Horseracing Authority, a family friend.

Five days after Patel’s visit, some of those who had met with her were involved in a group phone call, aimed at forming a strategy for achieving change. At this point, the group was broadened to include senior racecourse executives, including Martin Cruddace of Arena Racing Company, and elements of the leadership of the BHA.

“I was super impressed with how quickly they moved,” Harman said. “I think within a few days, they’d formed an inclusive group, had a conversation, started to frame how racing could get levy development back on track. I’ve been more positive about this than anything I’ve been reading about racing for a long time.”

The levy is a tax paid by bookmakers on the profit they make from horse racing bets, yielding almost £100m for the sport in the year to April 2020. The BHA is pressing the government to extend the levy to include bets placed in Britain on overseas racing, in the hope of an increase of up to £30m per year, but some insiders see that as a tepid solution.

They favour changing the levy to include an element of turnover rather than pure profit and estimate such a change could produce another £60m in annual income. It would also free racing from the uncomfortable position of needing its most devoted followers to lose money to bookmakers in order to shore up its funding, a reality which means unexpected Grand National winners, for example, are good news for the sport.

Some senior racing figures expressed alarm to the Guardian at the involvement of Patel and her husband, with racing and betting finances the responsibility of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

But Harman insisted: “Priti has taken an active interest in racing for a long time. With many other MPs, she was helpful with the levy reform in 2015 and she always wants to help this big industry, employing almost 100,000 people. Priti had a family day out and met a number of racing folk in Newmarket and there were a range of conversations about matters racing.”

A spokesperson for the home secretary said: “In August Priti and her family, including her young son, visited family friends who train horses in Newmarket. The home secretary denies any wrongdoing.”

Harman insisted this does not mark a return to racing politics for him, two years after he stepped down from the BHA chairmanship after allegations of a conflict of interest, which he denied.

Prolific owners including Trevor Hemmings and Tom Morley have announced their decision to cut back their racing interests, while the Newmarket trainer Ed Vaughan said he will give up his licence at the end of the season, adding: “The economics of training in Britain are not good. I’m taking this decision now because I can see things getting worse in the next year.” Some trainers have taken to running horses in France in pursuit of the better prize money offered there.

A BHA spokesman insisted it was also being active in this area, stating that its chair, Annamarie Phelps, and chief executive, Nick Rust, had met last week with the sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, to discuss racing’s recovery, and that the topic of income from betting had been raised.

“The case for levy reform has been strengthened by Covid and the implications of Brexit,” he added. “The recovery plan for racing, published last month, commits to make the case to government for immediate reform. It’s vital that the British racing industry has a level playing-field with other racing nations in Europe.”

Around 0.5% of money bet on British racing is returned to the sport, according to statistics published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The equivalent figure for France, where tote betting still dominates, is 9%.