Betting turnover on British racing suffers 4.2 per cent decline in the first nine months of the year

Betting turnover in Britain remains under severe pressure, with the latest figures from the BHA showing a 4.2 per cent decline for the first nine months of the year compared to the same period of 2024. 

With a slight reduction in fixtures and fewer weather-related cancellations, that drop translates to 5.8 per cent per race, or 11.4 per cent when compared to the first three quarters of 2023. 

Writing in the BHA's Q3 statistical summary, chief operations officer Richard Wayman pointed to the increased polarisation of the betting market, with average turnover per race at Premier meetings actually rising by 2.7 per cent, but that is more than offset by the 8.6 per cent decline at core fixtures.

Wayman said: "This preference for our highest-profile fixtures is undoubtedly linked to the impact of affordability checks with there being fewer larger-staking customers, who have either stopped betting or are placing their bets elsewhere and have been only partially replaced by more recreational punters betting in smaller stakes, primarily at the bigger meetings.

"With decisions relating to tax harmonisation and also taxes on gambling companies to be announced on November 26, the industry’s future financial position remains under a cloud. In the event this results in the betting industry increasing margins, reducing promotions and offers, and/or closing betting shops, this would inevitably impact racing’s finances in the years to come."

Wayman hailed the new four-year deal for ITV to screen racing as a positive development, and highlighted increased television viewing figures for many of the big summer fixtures, while acknowledging the absence of competition from a major men's international football tournament had helped both ratings and betting turnover for the festival meetings. 

How improved crowds at major summer meetings have helped power the recovery of British racing's attendances

To a lesser extent, the same split between the biggest days and more run-of-the-mill fare is reflected in racecourse attendances, with a 5.3 per cent rise in crowd figures at Premier fixtures contributing a total of 4.109 million people going racing in January to September, up from 3.918m in the first nine months of 2024. 

Racecourse attendances in Britain topped four million in the first nine months of 2025Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

As with betting turnover, field sizes remain an area of concern, and Wayman gave another broad hint the 2027 fixture list might look quite different to the one released for 2026.

While Premier Flat meetings featured a slight rise in average field size of 10.97 (up from 10.79) and Premier jumps races were essentially unchanged at 9.93 runners, there were further falls in both across the bulk of core fixtures. 

Relating this to the declining population of horses in training, Wayman said: "As part of producing the annual fixture policy, the sport’s leaders, as a matter of course, debate the appropriate volume of race meetings and races to schedule. That involves having to balance commercial considerations, or in other words that races usually generate a net positive financial return through levy and media rights, with the impact of staging those races on competitiveness levels and, therefore, racing’s longer-term appeal to the public. 

"While it might seem a long way off, work has already started on the 2027 fixture list and, with horses numbers continuing to fall, there is clearly a difficult question to be answered about what size of fixture list will be sustainable by then."

The report outlined a repeat of annual falls in the number of horses in training of 1.5 per cent dating back to 2022.

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