Why is there no racing in Britain on Wednesday? The 'strike' explained

There will be no horseracing in Britain on Wednesday as the sport instead unites in taking its message to the corridors of power in the heart of Westminster, urging the UK government not to raise the levels of taxation of betting. 

The four cards originally scheduled for September 10 have been moved to alternative dates, with the blank day allowing many of sport's major participants to attend events in London as part of the 'Axe the Racing Tax' campaign. 

Independent modelling commissioned by the BHA forecasts a £330 million loss in revenue to racing in the next five years if the Treasury goes through with proposals to raise the rate of tax on horseracing betting from the current 15 per cent to join online gaming and slots at 21 per cent.

• British racing to cancel all meetings for one day in extraordinary strike over proposed gambling tax rise 

A second study highlighted the risk of job losses associated with such a fall in income to the tune of more than 2,700 people in the first year alone. 

A lobbying event in Westminster will be attended by racing's various leaders, high-profile trainers, jockeys and MPs, as the sport seeks to spell out the major risks for its future viability should the tax harmonisation proposal be included in the next UK budget on November 26. 

The four meetings affected have all been rescheduled, while the fact that two each from Britain's biggest racecourse groups, Arena Racing Company (Arc) and the Jockey Club, shows how unified the sport's leadership has been over the issue. 

• Lingfield (afternoon) moves to September 8 (afternoon)
• Carlisle (afternoon) moves to September 9 (evening)
• Uttoxeter (afternoon) moves to September 11 (evening)
• Kempton (evening) moves to September 15 (evening)

The cost of a blank day of racing is substantial. Every day on which there is no racing has an economic impact. The rearrangement of the fixtures to other days lessens that impact but it is estimated the loss of revenue, along with the cost of convening this event, will be in the region of £200,000.

Racing in Ireland goes ahead with a single evening meeting at Cork. 

When the racing strike was announced last month, Arc chief executive Martin Cruddace said: "We have always been taxed and regulated differently, and it is imperative for our future that we continue to be so.

"If the government wants Britain to be a world leader in online [casinos] and a world pauper in a sport at the heart of its culture, then tax harmonisation will achieve that aim."

Read more on the racing strike:

Inside the campaign to ‘neutralise’ racing: how an unlikely alliance in the gambling tax war could spark the sport’s ‘Brexit moment’ 

Racing must stay united on betting tax threat, warns Jockey Club chief Jim Mullen 

John Gosden warns betting tax rise would ‘kill communities’ as British racing calls unprecedented one-day strike 

Write to your MP about the Racing Tax

Racing TV has created a template letter than can be used to email local MPs about your concerns over the 'racing tax'. Follow this link to access the template – it should not take more than a couple of minutes to complete.