Jockey Club continues recovery from pandemic but warns of fresh headwinds

The Jockey Club posted record turnover in 2022 as it recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic but chief executive Nevin Truesdale has warned it is facing fresh headwinds, including from affordability checks.

The news came as the Jockey Club, which runs 15 racecourses including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom and Newmarket and is the largest commercial organisation in British racing, published its latest set of financial results.

Turnover of £236 million was an increase of nine per cent on the £216.5m recorded in 2019, the most recent full year when racing was not subject to Covid-19 restrictions.

However, core operating profit had yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, although it recovered to £18.5m compared to £20.5m in 2019. The pandemic wiped more than £160m from the Jockey Club's revenues during 2020 and 2021, with restrictions on spectators not being fully lifted until July 2021.

Truesdale thanked the Jockey Club's staff for enabling them to "deliver such fantastic performance across the business in 2022".

However, he added: "This year is, as everyone knows, presenting its own challenges as the cost of living crisis, increasing energy bills, rising taxes and soaring inflation continue to impact businesses and families across the country.

"We are also seeing noticeable financial impacts of gambling regulation in the form of more stringent affordability checks on betting on racing, which is impacting our revenue from a number of these sources, particularly online streaming."

Truesdale said the Jockey Club would do all it could to support British racing in the face of such issues and that it had a solid foundation to do so from the strong performance in 2022. However, he warned: "The headwinds we are facing will have a material impact on our investment plans moving forward as we seek to run the business in a responsible manner.

"With that in mind it's more important than ever that the industry works together to drive growth by engaging existing and new audiences and really championing horseracing as a thrilling sport which is open and welcoming to all.

"By doing so we can all play our part in increasing revenues to reinvest back into British racing to help ensure it is a thriving industry for generations to come."

The overall number of racegoers attending the 325 fixtures staged by Jockey Club courses in 2022 was 1,526,596, while the group distributed more than £57m in prize-money, including a record executive contribution of more than £28m.

The Jockey Club also spent £11.4m on capital expenditure projects in 2022, compared with £7.7 million in the previous 12 months, including more than £1.3m on the refurbishment and reconfiguration of the weighing room at Newmarket’s July course and more than £1m on facilities for both racegoers and stable staff at Haydock Park.

Net debt has been reduced to £59.9m having been £105.8m at its peak in 2015.

Truesdale said: "This was our first full year of operation since 2019 without being subject to Covid-19 restrictions and, while there were always going to be challenges, these results show we coped with them admirably.

"We saw strong performance at our spring festivals at Cheltenham and Aintree as well as at Newmarket and Epsom Downs, but attendances were slightly disappointing at times during the summer and we endured a relatively large number of abandonments towards the end of the year due to the cold weather.

"However, we were able to finish 2022 on a high with strong attendances over the festive period, which was especially pleasing."

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