Julie Harrington: British racing feels like driving a Ferrari with the handbrake on due to reluctance to embrace change

A lack of transparency over the way money flows through the sport is causing suspicion and impeding progress, British racing was warned on Tuesday evening.

BHA chief executive Julie Harrington also told the 252nd Gimcrack Dinner at York racecourse that British racing felt like "driving a Ferrari with the handbrake on" due to vested interests and a reluctance to embrace change.

Transparency over British racing's income streams, especially income from media rights payments by bookmakers to racecourses, has been a point of friction for many years and Harrington's comments are likely to be greeted very differently by the sport's participants on one side and tracks on the other.

The courses have long argued the details of their media rights arrangements are subject to commercial confidentiality. Last month Racecourse Association (RCA) chief executive David Armstrong warned that financial headwinds meant the prospect of lower prize-money in 2024 was a "grim reality".

However, Thoroughbred Group chairman Julian Richmond-Watson responded to those comments by arguing that without transparency over racecourse income it was difficult to believe what courses were saying.

Harrington told guests at York that British racing had modernised, citing the new governance structure for the sport, but that it was "nowhere near enough”.

She added: "What we have achieved so far – and we should recognise achievements have been made – while doubtless aided by our new governance structures, has in part relied on goodwill rather than, for now at least, a truly collective courage to make fundamental, far-reaching changes. Goodwill alone is not enough. 

"Let’s not forget we're the country’s second-biggest spectator sport. We remain a global leader in breeding, training, racing. We're one of Britain’s greatest exports, one of its most important soft-power levers. 

"We should be purring along like a Ferrari. But too often vested interests, siloed operations and a general reluctance to embrace change makes it feel like we are driving a Ferrari with the handbrake on."

Harrington said her role as BHA chief executive in recent years had been tougher than it needed to be, "with hours spent persuading people towards change, and handling conflict as stakeholders turned inwards on each other". She said she hoped that the sport working together in 2024 would bring "greater trust and confidence".

Harrington added: "Trust will be a key factor if we want to deliver innovation at the scale and pace that will make a difference. If we find we're failing to make progress, that change remains elusive, then we need to find a way to remove one of the main barriers to trust.  

"Transparency on how money flows through our sport, in my opinion, needs to be addressed. From participants to racecourses, bookmakers to government, there remains a degree of suspicion about where the money goes. This then breeds distrust and suspicion within the sport and creates a reason for us to fight each other rather than our competition. 

"We need to break these barriers down. If this is achieved through myth-busting presentations, through prize-money agreements or greater transparency, if it is delivered through commercial contracts or regulation – I don’t mind. I do think it would accelerate progress and allow us to take off the handbrake."

Tony Bloom: affordability checks should be "as frictionless as possible"Credit: Charlie Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Leading owner Tony Bloom, who is owner and chairman of Premier League football club Brighton, also addressed the event as his colt Lake Forest won the Gimcrack Stakes at York in August.

Bloom told the dinner he believed more could be done to maximise the sport’s appeal and said the move towards Premier racedays would be "much easier for new, lesser committed racing followers to keep pace with".

He also said he believed "a small reduction in the sheer volume of racing will bring more and greater benefits to the sport as a whole in the UK".

Bloom, who is well known for his prowess in poker and sports betting, also addressed the issue of affordability checks. He said he was in favour of measures to promote responsible gambling but added: "Again, a balance has to be struck. 

"It is important the new legislation makes affordability checks as frictionless as possible. Otherwise, far too many people who want to bet, and do so responsibly and within their means, will be driven away from betting on horseracing, which will have broader ramifications for the sport and the industry as a whole."

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