BHA places cost of shutdown at nearly £200 million if lasting until July

British racing faces losing an estimated £193 million in revenue for participants if the coronavirus pandemic shuts the sport down until July, with the BHA calling on the industry to get behind its financial aid submission to government by lobbying local MPs for support.

The forecast loss for racecourses, trainers, breeders and jockeys accounts for 13 per cent of racing's annual revenue, with the BHA believing it could result in a £55.25m net cash impact and cause "significant economic and social hardship" as well as having the potential to "threaten British racing’s pre-eminent position" in the sport internationally.

The figures have been starkly laid out by the BHA in a letter to trainers, a copy of which has been seen by the Racing Post, with the sport's regulator asking for assistance as part of an "industry-wide lobbying effort that is aiming to gain political backing for the financial support package".

Economic impact on suspension to the end of June

471 fixtures lost
25 festival days lost
£193m industry revenues lost
£55m net cash impact on industry

Emma Lavelle, president of the National Trainers Federation, said the moves were sensible to help everyone involved in the sport and allow racing to restart when getting approval to do so.

She said: "It's big figures and, quite simply, the sooner we start racing then that's when we can start to generate revenue for everybody.

"It's going to have to be clear from the government what is acceptable. That's the key thing, but that's only going to happen when the situation with coronavirus is on a better footing than it is at the moment.

"It'll be massive that we will come together. All of us want to get going, as and when it is safe to do so. What's happened is tough on racecourses, trainers, owners, stable staff and the country as a whole – we're in this together. We need to be ready to go so that we can put something positive on when we can."

No racing has taken place in Britain since March 17 with the hiatus set to last until at least the end of April as Britain continues to battle with Covid-19. On Sunday 737 new coronavirus-related hospital deaths were recorded in Britain, taking the total number to 10,612.

Work continues to go on behind the scenes at the BHA to prepare racing to return with government backing at the earliest possible moment, including the potential use of behind-closed-doors 'hub' racecourses such as Newmarket, Newcastle and Lingfield for extended periods.

For now, the date for racing's return remains May 1, according to the group tasked with readying the sport, although the BHA's forecasts and requests for help extend beyond that and into the summer, in line with schemes announced by government such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which initially run until June.

One of the key proposals put forward by the BHA in the cross-industry agreed submission to government is for funding from the industry to be matched, a move which would plough £15m in additional funds into the sport.

The BHA is also seeking an easing of state aid rules, to allow for existing industry reserves to be "fully utilised", for stable staff to be classed as essential workers, business rates relief for the sector and financial support for jockeys before the self-employed measures announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak come into force in June.

A scheme for owners to offset losses made on a horse in training against personal income tax has also been proposed.

Lavelle believes it is important for racing's participants to be able to access the funding available to them to allow the sport, which directly employs more than 20,000 people, to be as healthy as possible going forward.

She said: "We should be approaching the councils to make sure we put in and ask for all the benefits that are out there for us. There's a lot happening and I think we have to be measured to what we're asking for, so we make sure we put our case across but that we are keeping in mind the bigger picture.

"We want to preserve the sport for all of our members, whether they're big, middle-sized or small. There's the horses too, we need to remember that the welfare of horses are paramount and that the finances are there to do that."

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