Thoroughbred Group chair calls for more transparency after casting doubts over prize-money warning

The new chair of the Thoroughbred Group has called for more transparency from racecourses as he called into question a warning that prize-money levels may fall next year.

Julian Richmond-Watson was responding to comments made by Racecourse Association chief executive David Armstrong  in the Racing Post in which he claimed his members were facing a "triple whammy" of financial headwinds, headed by affordability checks, and that the prospect of prize-money reductions in 2024 was "a grim reality".

Armstrong said that betting turnover had suffered a double-digit fall, which he blamed on the impact of affordability checks and reduced promotion of racing by bookmakers, and with media rights payments based mainly on turnover, that had resulted in downward pressure on racecourses' income.