Horseracing at risk of “being tipped into terminal decline”, warns parliamentary report 

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock (APPG) has called on the government to “exempt horseracing from plans to harmonise gambling duties” in a new report.  

The report, ‘Securing Racing’s Future: The Threat to British Horseracing’, is set to be presented by the group in Westminster today, 16 June.  

According to the report, horseracing faces “a triple whammy of challenges that represent no less than an existential threat to the sport”.

Among the threats is the uncertain future of the Horserace Betting Levy, which serves as the sport’s primary source of funding.  

The levy is currently set at 10% of operators’ profits on the sport, with the report pointing out that the horseracing receives less than 3% of the £13bn staked annually on horseracing.  

This leaves the UK “at risk of falling behind our international competitors, and acting as a drag anchor on growth”. 

The report also highlighted financial risk checks on bettors as another potential issue, with the measure “hitting responsible bettors failing to catch genuine problem gamblers”.

A potential unification of taxes in the UK was also cited as a cause for concern which, according to the report, could cost operators £40m per year.  

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) last week warned that the Remote Betting and Gambling Duty (RBGD) could drive two-thirds of customers towards the black market.  

The RBGD is now under consultation from the Treasury, which would combine general betting duty and pool betting, both taxed at 15%, and online casino (21%), into a single levy.

However, the consultation, which will run until 21 July, will not determine a new rate of tax. That will be determined closer to 2027 as part of a budgetary consideration by the government.

Assuming that betting duties increase from 15% to at least 21%, the APPG said such a move would be destructive for horseracing.

On the RBGD, the report read: “A new single RBGD of 21% will cost operators for online horserace betting over £40m annually.

“This, in turn, will mean less money flowing to racing through the Levy, which remains the sport’s key funding mechanism.  

“This would threaten jobs, economic growth and have a serious knock-on effect on industries like hospitality, retail and transport, which in racing towns around the country are heavily reliant on meetings.

“This damaging cocktail will put at risk a major part of the heritage and social fabric of dozens of these towns and rural communities.  

“To avoid this, horserace betting should continue to be taxed at a separate, lower rate than online gaming products. The government should rethink plans to introduce a single, flat-rate tax structure or, if it proceeds, grant an exemption to horseracing that recognises its economic, social and cultural value, and the reality that it is inherently less harmful. 

“Failure to do so could have damaging and irreversible consequences for a sport that has brought joy to millions of people in every corner of Britain for hundreds of years.” 

The cross-party APPG includes Labour’s Dan Carden and Grahame Morris, with Tory representation from Nick Timothy and Baroness McIntosh of Pickering.

Carden’s constituency, Liverpool Walton, is home to Aintree Racecourse and Timothy’s West Suffolk seat boasts Newmarket within its boundaries.

In a joint statement, APPG co-chairs Carden and Timothy said: “Without action on these issues, including an exemption for horseracing from the government’s duty harmonisation plans, Britain’s second-largest spectator sport and a cherished aspect of the social fabric of our communities will suffer great harm.  

“The millions of people in Britain who enjoy attending race meetings and having a flutter on the horses will not thank a government that, as this issue comes roaring down the track, stands idly by when it is in their power to stop it.  

“Racing’s huge economic, social and cultural contribution, and Britain’s standing on the global stage, is at stake. It is not too late to prevent irreversible damage, but the government must act, and act now.” 

The report also contained results from a survey of 3,007 people conducted in April 2025.  

Just over half of people polled (53%) said that horseracing is an important part of British culture.  

Two-thirds (66%) said racing was an important part of the identity of towns such as Newmarket, Doncaster and Cheltenham, while 61% said the government has a responsibility to protect the UK’s international sporting standing.  

Additionally, 70% of people surveyed agreed that gambling companies should be obligated to reinvest some profits into the sports they profit from, while 56% would support a law requiring greater investment into British horseracing.  

The report concluded: “The bottom line is horseracing – the second largest spectator sport in Britain – with immense economic and cultural value not just to rural areas, but to towns with racecourses across the country, risks being tipped into terminal decline without concerted action from policymakers on harmonisation, the Levy and affordability checks. 

“Our call to government is clear: exempt horseracing from plans to harmonise gambling duties, reflecting its fundamentally different nature and level of risk. A blunt, one size fits all approach to harmonisation comes with serious and unnecessary unintended consequences for the sport.  

“The government has a choice. Move ahead as intended and risk the future of British racing, or take the more considered route and give racing the exemption it needs from harmonisation.

“In doing so, policymakers will safeguard a national asset and have the thanks and gratitude not just of stakeholders across the sport, but of people across the country who enjoy racing and depend on it for the livelihoods.” 

Brant Dunshea, the British Horseracing Authority CEO, said: “The sport is a cherished national institution, loved by people across every part of society, across every type of community, across every political party.

“It is time that the government recognised that passion across the country for our sport and developed policies that supported it, allowed it to survive and thrive instead of risking its future.

“British racing cannot – and must not – be allowed to fail. All of us who love and depend on this iconic sport call on the government to recognise the depth of the feeling and act now to back British racing.”

Last week, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) appointed Roger Devlin as the new permanent chair of the Horserace Betting Levy Board.  

He takes over the role from Anne Lambert, who had been serving in an interim capacity since September 2024 following the passing of former chair Paul Darling last August.