'You just hope it registers with the powers that be' - trainers upbeat at Doncaster following British racing's day of protest

After British racing's blank day on Wednesday, it was back to the day job for the sport's participants on the first day of Doncaster's St Leger meeting.

Karl Burke, who trains one of the biggest teams in the country from his Middleham base, believes racing's protest against government plans to reform online gambling taxes would have had an impact. 

"It looks as though we've made a point," said the trainer. "It was covered widely in the news, and you just hope it registers with the powers that be. It's not just about horseracing and horses, it's about all the people behind the whole industry to produce a horse on the track. 

"If they cause an issue that is going to reduce racing's revenue and reduce the number of horses in training, that's going to have a massive knock-on effect. They're going to lose far more money in the long term than they are in the short term."

Prime minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria before last year's St LegerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Richard Hughes, a Group 1-winning trainer and three-time champion jockey, also believes racing must continue to hammer home the impact the harmonisation of online gambling duties could have on the sport. 

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. 

"It's good the sport has been proactive," said the trainer. "Racing is not the same as roulette machines on your phone, it employs 85,000 people. It's massive. I've been to India and there's a huge tax on racing. Betting is a huge part of it but Indian racing is nearly dead because all the money is now going into the black market."

John Gosden was back on course, having been at the forefront of the protest when outlining the challenges facing British racing in Westminster.

Speaking after winning the 1m2f handicap with Devil's Advocate, he said: "We were just bringing attention to it, we're not belligerent strikers as that's not our scene. No-one strikes in our game as we're looking after the horses and exercising them, the only difference was no-one was going racing."

Prime minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria attended St Leger day last year, while the King and Queen visited on the same day in 2023, but Doncaster officials said they were not expecting any special guests this year.

Read more . . .

Racing takes tax fight to Westminster on unprecedented day of protest as a white horse and a champion jockey spell out the sport's message 

'We won't be left with much of an industry' - John Gosden warns of challenges facing British racing on day of government protest 

Lord Allen calls on British racing to stand 'shoulder to shoulder' in racing tax campaign 

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.