Racing League parent company's debts approach £5 million but organisers not concerned about future of initiative

Debts at the Racing League’s parent company have risen to nearly £5 million after an increase of more than £400,000 was recorded for the latest financial year.

Accounts were published on Monday for Championship Racing Limited showing overall debt of £4,752,612 for the year ended September 30, up from £4,338,995 in 2022. The first running of the Racing League took place in the summer of 2021.

Despite the increasing amounts owed to shareholders, Championship Racing said in its accounts the Racing League “has cemented the league format concept and firmly established the competition as a feature of the annual British racing calendar”, a statement backed up by all six fixtures being granted Premier raceday status this year.

The format, which has been licensed by Arena Racing (Arc) and is broadcast on ITV4 and Sky Sport Racing, pits seven regional teams against each other across 42 races at different courses with points awarded to teams based on where the horses finish.

Jeremy Wray, chief executive of the Racing League, said: “I don’t get to see line by line everything from Arc’s side but I know the targets of where we are, and we were not far short of breaking even with Arc. What comes through to us on a year-by-year basis won’t necessarily be reflected in the accounts as they are historical by their nature, but if we have something in its stand alone form that is profitable it doesn’t really matter what’s gone before it.

“I think one thing that the Racing League has definitely done over the last couple of years is get established. We have been given Premier Racing status for these fixtures, and we are always conscious that for this to work as best as possible we need to get as close to 14 runners a race in every race as we can. We have improved every year and we’re now up to an average of 11.

“This year we’ve done away with two-year-old races and we’ve put in a couple of longer-distance races. We’re not taking time off during Goodwood and York this year and ITV were very keen on this happening as they felt the narrative went better week on week.” 

Alongside alterations to the racing programme, the Racing League has partnered with blockchain-technology firm Zilliqa to launch The Winners Circle. 

According to the Litepaper – an outline of the organisation’s plans and goals – published on its website, The Winners Circle is a 'fan rewards programme' that allows people to buy digital tokens as an 'investment' that can also be parlayed into tangible benefits. 

These benefits include being able to “access discounts for racehorse ownership shares”, “influence the direction of the sport by participating in governance votes” and “access exclusive raceday experiences and opportunities to meet world-renowned jockeys and racing influencers”.

Wray said the tokens would be launched ahead of the start of this year’s Racing League at Yarmouth on July 25.

Saffie Osborne: Racing League's leading jockey for the last two yearsCredit: Grossick Racing (racingpost.com/photos)

As part of the promotion of the The Winners Circle, the organisation has taken on the sponsorship of Saffie Osborne, who has been leading Racing League jockey for the past two years.

Seven teams representing Scotland, the East, the North, Wales & the West, Yorkshire, London & the South and Ireland participate in the competition. Last year, Ireland pipped Wales & the West to the overall team title.

This year, reality TV personality Chris Hughes has been brought in to fill the manager's gap for the East following the departure of Frankie Dettori, while another former mainstream television presenter is believed to be being lined up to help with the management of the London & the South team.

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