It’s a week when all around have been the winds of change. The fear of them brought racing together at Westminster on Wednesday, united for once in protest over the Treasury’s proposal to bring existing online betting duties into one single rate.
The great and good were herded together to drum home the ‘Axe The Racing Tax’ message to any MP who took an interest and those who were wandering around the corridors of power at the time.
It garnered good cut-through across the mainstream media and now for the waiting game. We won’t know what Rachel Reeves has decided until the Budget on November 26.
And the bookmakers, not notified of the strike plan which meant a blank day on these shores to coincide with the London gathering, warn that any tax increase on their sector full stop will have an impact on racing’s finances.
At the very least a significant cut in discretionary spend could be on the cards. And as you look out across Doncaster Racecourse on Friday morning, all you see are Betfred signs, the firm now the proud sponsors of all five British Classics.
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