BHA Race-Reduction Proposal Tabled Following Executive Committee Vote

The British Horseracing Authority's proposal to balance the racing programme and reduce it by 300 races for 2023 did not proceed out of review after the sport's Executive Committee voted on Wednesday evening. Racing Post first reported the news. The Executive Committee consists of BHA Chief Executive Julie Harrington, and high-ranking members of the Racecourse Association and the Thoroughbred Group. Harrington released a statement explaining the decision on Thursday morning. The statement read:

“The BHA retains the view that it is critical we take steps, as a sport, to deliver a racing product which is both competitive and compelling. The use of a data-driven race programme which is suitably tailored to the population of horses in training will be central to this.

“Following ongoing discussions with the sport's member bodies we believe the best way to achieve this will be through collaboration on a unified industry strategy, rather than making tactical tweaks to the race programme, which have the side-effect of causing significant division amongst the sport's various members.

“The sport's leaders have recent announced that work will now begin on a unified strategy, with fixtures and the race programme at its core.

“Meanwhile, the size of the 2023 race programme will remain under review, with the capacity for decisions to be made later in the year, based on ongoing industry discussions and our ongoing monitoring of the horse population.”

The National Trainers Federation released a statement in response to the news which read:

“We are extremely disappointed with the outcome of the Executive Committee vote on reducing race volume for 2023. From the outset we have supported a BHA proposal that sought to prioritise the future health of the sport over immediate financial gain.

“Further to this, we are left questioning a situation where, despite the Thoroughbred Group voting in favour of the BHA proposal, it was not possible to even reach the two to one majority needed to justify a discussion at the BHA Board. Clearly, this raises significant concerns for us.”

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UK Racing Industry’s Long-Term Stragety To Be Formalised

Leaders of the Racecourse Association (RCA), Thoroughbred Group (TG) and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) will work together to set a mid-to-long term strategy, to help stakeholders align on a plan for the long-term sustainability of the industry. The strategy will look at areas including prize-money, the race programme–alongside the breeding industry and ensuring there are enough of the right horses to fulfil the race programme–equine and people welfare, the collection and use of data in the sport, the owner experience, integrity, customer engagement and the overall marketing of horseracing both domestically and internationally. Agreement on this principle has followed on from the sport's ongoing discussions regarding industry governance, which include that the BHA should have responsibility for coordinating the industry strategy on behalf of shareholders.

Joe Saumarez Smith, who started his position as Chair of the BHA on June, 1, said, “The ongoing discussions around industry governance have now paved the way for the development of a cross-industry strategic vision for the sport's growth, something that the industry is unanimous in agreeing is required.

“There is much good work being done by stakeholders but too often it is in isolation, and we all felt there is an opportunity for all participants to help shape that vision. The strategy will be framed around the industry's shared ambition to maintain and enhance Britain's position as a leading player in world racing.”

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