Where does the money go?
The fundamental sources of income to the sport are from owners who pay to acquire, keep and prepare horses to race plus the public watching and punting.
As a group, owners have always been expected to simply fund the sport as the price for the experience of being an active participant. The vast majority of owners still accept this and that it is is highly unlikely that any profits made can be sustained. The scale of the support expected is however, beginning to feel like abuse.
Numerous reports and studies over many years going back into the 1980s portray a declining interest in the sport and a continually worsening financial position for owners in particular. It is owners who bear the brunt of increasing commercial interests and funding a plethora of individual service organisations.
Transparency of where the money comes from and goes is low. Nonetheless, it is clear that bookmakers and racecourses make sufficient cash to repay shareholders, pay executive salaries and invest in their future growth. All other types of participants make a return that at a minimum sustains their livelihoods…..except owners.
The following charts provide simple estimated summaries of where the money goes, and are based on publicly available information including from published company accounts, the British Horseracing Authority, Deloitte, Keep Owners in Racing and Hansard.
