Horse Racing Levy

Debate between Pete Wishart and Matt Hancock

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

That is an extremely important point. The amount in the prize pot is falling, but the number of races is expanding, and it is doing so at the behest of the gambling industry, which understandably wants continuous racing throughout the year. Those two dynamics make the consequences for the racing industry even worse, because the amount of prize money that owners get for coming second or third in a race is small, which leads to an even greater problem for people who run their horses. That is an important point.

British trainers are being diverted from running and owning in Britain to France and further, which threatens not only those moving their horses, but the breeding industry in this country, which is undoubtedly the best in the world. Without that first-rate racing, the industry will not survive here for long—it will decline—but it has taken decades to build up Britain’s reputation as the best place for training and breeding bloodstock.

[Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)]

I, too, congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. I am glad that he mentions transport and travel. Friends of Scottish Racing is concerned about the distances involved in getting infrastructure to race courses such as Perth and the additional costs that must be met by owners and trainers. Has he considered that in the context of the future of the levy and horse racing throughout the UK? What would he say about some of those difficulties with travelling distances?

[Matthew Hancock]

That is an extremely important point. I was speaking to a successful and wise trainer yesterday who told me that trainers will often not send horses to race in Scotland unless another horse goes on the lorry. Of course, that takes out runners, which does not help the gambling industry—it is a circular process.

I received a phone call yesterday from a Mr Staddon, who owns five horses. He took one to Hereford last week. It jumped all 19 fences and came third. Hon. Members might think that that is pretty good, but his prize money was £205, and it cost him £650 to race and travel. He came third, but did not get even a third of his costs back. He is seriously considering giving up. If he takes his five horses out of training, the trainer will have to cut staff, farriers and all the services that go with stables. He fears job losses in racing on a mass scale.

The task is urgent. We know where the money that is made in racing lies. In Britain, there is a 1% return to racing from betting turnover, compared with 5% in Japan or 8% in the US and France. The gambling industry’s gross win on racing is more than £1 billion a year. Yesterday, we were all delighted that William Hill reported a sharp increase in profits.