The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and the Racing Foundation have announced an immediate £22 million hardship funding package to support the British racing industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two organisations have combined with other racing bodies to identify the areas within the sport most in need of emergency support. The HBLB is primarily involved with supporting racecourses currently hit by the suspension of racing and a cash sum of £13.5m is being made available in that area, while £8 million has been released for racing's participants, including for equine welfare.
“This is a substantial undertaking by the Levy Board in conjunction with the Racing Foundation,” said HBLB chairman Paul Darling. “The board has agreed to make available significant sums to racecourses through a combination of measures that will meet the demand for cash in the short-term. Importantly, this approach preserves further levy funds that we know will be needed for prize-money when racing resumes.”
He added, “It is certain that the Levy Board will have a major role at that stage and beyond. Negotiating the many challenges ahead of us all will require exceptional co-operation between every sector. Those challenges can only be met if British racing and the betting industry work in partnership and the Levy Board will play a full and active part in ensuring that this happens.”
In addition to advance payments to racecourses of raceday service grants, which are currently £12,571 for most fixtures, loans of up to £200,000 per racecourse are available from a joint fund of £7.5 million from the HBLB and Racing Foundation.
As well as assisting racecourses, the Racing Foundation, which holds the proceeds from the sale of the Tote in 2011, has combined forces with other donors, including the John Pearce Foundation, to focus on assisting those facing financial hardship during the coronavirus outbreak. That includes boosting the Racing Welfare funds by up to £750,000 in order to help the charity meet the demands for hardship grants, and setting up a £2.5 million Racing Relief Fund in conjunction with the ROA to ensure that horses are continued to be looked after in the event that their owners can no longer support them financially.
Further funding is being made available in these areas:
- Jockeys support and hardship scheme up to £900k, which also covers valets and agents.
- Trainers and their staff struggling with immediate cashflow can claim through the Filling the furlough and Self Employed Income Support Scheme gap of £2.79m.
- Contributions to the Racing Industry Accident Benefit Scheme will be met for furloughed employees through a scheme worth up to £104k.
- Support for British Racing's charities of up to £900k.
Ian Barlow, Chairman of the Racing Foundation, said, “The Trustees of the Foundation agreed that during this exceptional time the organisation should not be bound by its normal endowment rules and be prepared to bring forward future years' expenditure, while utilising some of its capital, to support the emerging needs of the sport. The funding requests we have received are varied and we want to take an approach which can help alleviate the immediate hardship being felt by the sport's people, horses, businesses and charities. Through close and continued collaboration both organisations will seek to meet the immediate hardship needs presented to us and ensure necessary funds are in place to commence racing and support the sport in the months ahead.”
Warning that racing faces “an incredibly tough battle” to combat lost income, Nick Rust, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, commented on the emergency help fund. He said, “This package of self-help funding offers some initial relief to the hard-working people, horses and businesses on whom racing relies. We know this does not solve the acute problems the industry is facing but it will provide much needed short-term assistance.
“More support will be needed and the most important way to achieve this will be through a safe resumption of racing when conditions allow. We have communicated this to government and are working hard with the other major sports to bring this about. We will be ready to resume racing and our plans are progressing with urgency.”
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