All scheduled horse racing in Britain on 10 September will be cancelled as the sport stages a strike in protest against Treasury plans to equalise betting duty with higher rates for casino-style games. The action, expected to cost the industry approximately £700,000, will see meetings at Uttoxeter, Lingfield, Kempton and Carlisle abandoned.
The decision was coordinated by Jockey Club Racecourses, Arena Racing Company and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). Currently, gambling on games of chance is taxed at 21% of gross profits, while betting on racing and sports is taxed at 15%, with an additional 10% levy on UK racing bets.
The Treasury proposal, first floated under the previous Conservative government and carried forward by Labour, would harmonise the rates. Racing stakeholders fear this would make the sport less attractive to gambling operators compared with fixed-odds gaming products. The consultation on the plan closed in July.
Brant Dunshea, the BHA’s acting chief executive, said: “If the chancellor delivers this tax bombshell at the autumn budget, not only will jobs be lost but the future of Britain’s second-largest spectator sport will be in jeopardy.” He added that stakeholders are “united in their opposition” to the plans.
The strike comes one day before the prestigious St Leger meeting at Doncaster, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife attended last year. Cancelled races are expected to be rescheduled on other cards around the same time.
