Harder times loom for many who have it tough already

While a handful of trainers make a handsome living out of racing, for many others life is not nearly so comfortable. From April next year those lives will be even harder.

The revaluation of business rates will impact on organisations across Britain – including racecourses – but one group set to be hit particularly are trainers, especially those in areas where property prices have increased greatly, such as Newmarket, Epsom and the south west.

Newmarket's problem is, to an extent, unintentionally self-inflicted, with the Valuation Office Agency having noted the lucrative rents being obtained for a small number of major yards. Those rents, however, have only been achievable because very few large training establishments are not owner-occupied, meaning the cost of renting those that are available has galloped clear of the true market price.