Betting turnover on British racing falls nine per cent in first three months of 2025 as higher-staking punters turn to black market

Betting turnover on British racing dropped nine per cent in the first three months of 2025, with the BHA pointing to high-staking punters being driven away from gambling or turning to the black market as a likely cause.

In a blog posted on Thursday, Richard Wayman, BHA director of racing, said betting on core fixtures had plunged by 14.4 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2024 but remained unchanged for Premier fixtures, indicating recreational punters were not being impacted by checks imposed by bookmakers under pressure from the Gambling Commission.

Wayman said: “Total betting turnover has fallen by nine per cent compared with the same period in 2024. Whilst there is work to be done on the racing product to grow its appeal as a betting medium, there would be a much wider range of factors contributing to this concerning decline. 

Richard Wayman: BHA director of racing

"These include, for example, that improvements in gross win would suggest that results on the racecourse didn’t help turnover levels through this period.

“Looking more closely at the decline, it is interesting to note that the average turnover per race at a core fixture has fallen by 14.4 per cent, while at a Premier fixture it has remained unchanged. This suggests changes in the profile of customers betting on racing with some of the larger higher-staking customers either betting less or moving to unlicensed operators where they can avoid the checks that are routinely required within the regulated markets. 

“More encouragingly, we are seeing growth in the number of recreational punters betting on racing. Such customers are more likely to focus on our higher-profile fixtures and races, albeit their activity does not make up for the loss of the larger-staking bettors.”

Data published by the Gambling Commission last year for the year ending March 2024 showed that online betting turnover on horseracing had dropped by £1.6 billion since 2022. This amounted to a real-terms black hole of £3bn in the sport’s finances once inflation is factored in.

The Racing Post’s Big Punting Survey of 10,000 punters this year also showed high-staking punters turning to the black market, with one in three of those betting £1,000 or more per transaction saying they had used an unregulated site in the last 12 months.

It has been two years since the white paper proposing changes to the 2005 Gambling Act was published by the previous Conservative government. Leading racing figures, punters and analysts warned this week of the damage being done by the delay in enacting changes.

Among those to express concern was Nevin Truesdale, the former chief executive of the Jockey Club, who speaking earlier this week said: “The Gambling Commission seems to want to reduce gambling to just small-stakes gamblers and that can’t be right. It’s an infringement on personal freedoms. 

“We absolutely want to address the issue of problem gambling, but it’s quite small and needs to be kept in proportion.”

Nevin Truesdale: "The Gambling Commission seems to want to reduce gambling to just small-stakes gamblers and that can’t be right"Credit: Edward Whitaker

While betting turnover has dropped, the BHA was able to report a rise in the number of high-rated jumps horses in training with 307 horses rated 135-plus compared to 288 in the first three months of last year.

In addition, the number of races starting within two minutes of the scheduled start time had increased to 87.6 per cent compared to 79.2 per cent in 2024 and 72.7 per cent in 2023.

Wayman added: “By the time of my next blog at the end of Q2, we will be a long way down the road of producing the 2026 fixture list. 

“The current trial of changes is allowing us to test various things, and it is obviously important that the 2026 fixture list builds on the areas where we have seen improvements and learn the lessons from those initiatives that haven’t achieved their aims.”

Read these next:

The white paper two years on: 'A lot of the things we warned about are coming to pass' 

Uncertain times continue for the sport as constant political change scuppers much-needed breakthroughs 

Government warned of 'catastrophic' consequences for racing as it launches gambling tax consultation 

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