Widening levy to include bets placed on overseas racing merits 'consideration'

A government minister has said that calls to reform British racing's central funding system to capture a share of money placed in Britain on racing overseas merited "careful consideration".

The comment will be welcomed by the sport's leadership, which has called on the government to make changes to the way the levy is calculated to help British racing close the prize-money gap with other jurisdictions.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay made the comment in a debate in the House of Lords Grand Committee on Thursday, when he told peers the government acknowledged "the significant contribution that racing makes to our economy".

The government reformed the levy in 2017 by bringing bookmakers based overseas into the net, a move which almost doubled the amount of money collected to around £95 million.

The next review of the levy is due in 2024, and a further change to capture a percentage of the losses made by British punters on foreign racing could bring in a further £20m, according to estimates.

Lord Parkinson said: "The BHA has presented its case that there is a significant gap in its funding, which means that it is unable to compete with jurisdictions such as the Republic of Ireland and France.

"We have considered that case very carefully as we prepare to conduct the next review of the levy, which is due in 2024. In particular, racing has asked for international races to be brought within the scope of the levy.

"Although funding systems vary between jurisdictions, it is fair to say that racing in those countries benefits from bets on overseas races in a way that racing in Britain does not, which is something that merits careful consideration."

Parkinson added the government also expected racing and bookmakers to jointly explore how to maximise other sources of income.

He added: "Both sectors have a clear interest in making racing as attractive as possible to customers, and I encourage racing to engage and work closely with betting partners in its thinking on the levy."

The debate had been secured by Lord Risby, one of the government-appointed members of the Levy Board. He said that British racing was coming under "remorselessly increasing pressure", adding: "Owing to a range of factors, British racing faces gaping challenges in achieving competitive levels of prize-money."

Risby welcomed this week's news that British racing's leadership had agreed a new governance structure which it hopes will prevent deadlock among the sport's factions over strategic decisions.

His comments were echoed by Lord Lipsey, although he called for the government to appoint a royal commission on horseracing as he believed the sport "would benefit from formalised outside help and advice".

Lipsey added: "Racing indeed needs a plan, but I am not wholly confident that, even with the new model of governance, it has all the knowledge and understanding that it needs for a robust plan."

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