A positive levy yield - but now the sport faces some big spending decisions

There has been some much-needed good news for British racing in recent days – and not just because racecourses in England will be able to welcome back spectators from next week.

The Levy Board's announcement on Monday that the sport's central funding system is expected to have yielded £80 million in the 12 months to the end of March is a major positive despite it being the lowest figure recorded since the government reforms introduced in 2017.

Given that no racing took place at all for two months of the latest levy year – a period which included the Grand National – and betting shops have either been closed or operating under strict Covid-related restrictions for much of that time, it is a thoroughly respectable figure.