The day of horse racing’s national strike occurs on Wednesday as every scheduled meeting across Great Britain has been cancelled. The sport is taking the unprecedented measure to protest against the proposed alteration of gambling tax rates which could harbour a significant threat to the future of the sport in this country.
Weather-based postponements and cancellations aside, this is the first voluntary strike in which no race meetings will take place in the history of racing as an organised sport. The strike has been backed by bodies such as the National Trainers Federation among others to attempt to combat the government’s proposals to hike gambling duties on sports betting to 21%, the same as they are for casino gaming.
Such measures would deal a blow to the funding of racing which comes from the bookmakers’ levy. Despite the more assured risk of betting on sports when compared to more random online casino games, the government looks prepared to put both on an equal footing regarding tax.
The strike will occur just one day before one of the most historic meetings in the sport in Doncaster’s St Leger festival. The final Classic of the season occurs on Saturday, with the meeting attended by none other than Keir Starmer 12 months ago.
The British Horseracing Authority claims that over 85,000 jobs rely on the sport as an industry. That number is surely under risk given this existential threat and is one of a number of reasons the sport is hoping to make an impact with Wednesday’s strike action.