Paul Darling

The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) published its 2023/24 Annual Report & Accounts on Tuesday. They revealed that the HBLB's statutory Levy income to the year ended Sunday, March 31 was £105m, the highest since the reforms of 2017 which added to the scope of the Levy non-retail bets placed in Great Britain with betting operators based overseas. This £105m surpassed the £100m in 2022/23 and was achieved against a backdrop of a further fall in betting turnover (amount staked) which, as in 2022/23, was mitigated by improved margins and...

The 107th annual general meeting of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA), held on Tuesday, Aug. 13, saw members and trustees gather at Newbury racecourse to discuss the ongoing challenges in British racing's future. Philip Newton, chairman of the association, reiterated that evidence-based strategy as well as incentives and intervention were working, and that the methods were the way forward for a sustainable future. Newton took time to highlight the positive impact of both the Elite Mares' Scheme as well as the Great British Bonus (GBB) Scheme. The latter has paid...

During a time when racing's finances are under increasing pressure, there was some good news in Britain on Friday from the Levy Board with the prediction that the Levy income for the year which ended March 31, 2020, will be in the region of £97m. That figure, which is up on the previous forecast of £90m to £95m, is derived from provisional submissions to date from the majority of Levy-paying bookmakers. "It is very welcome that Levy yield for the past year looks like being in line with if not...