Livelihoods in the balance as racing counts the cost of shutdown

Jockeys and trainers have expressed concerns about their livelihoods following the suspension of British racing due to the coronavirus pandemic, with one prominent rider admitting he will have to live off his savings.

The entire racing industry has been left to count the cost after the BHA shut down the sport until May at the earliest due to Covid-19, for which 2,626 people have tested positive in Britain from 56,221 tests, with 104 deaths.

The financial impact on jockeys has been particularly severe with a primary source of income immediately cut off and major worries over when racing will return.

The government, which on Wednesday followed Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in closing down schools from Friday, has pledged loans worth £330 billion to help businesses through the crisis, but similar measures for the self-employed, a bracket the vast majority of jockeys fall into, were not announced.

Freelance jockey Sean Quinlan, who was looking forward to riding Scottish National winner Takingrisks in the Grand National at Aintree next month before its cancellation, said: "My employment is racing and I'm worried. We'd all survive if it was until the end of April, but if it goes on for longer we're going to struggle.

"I've not got a lot coming in and am living off what I've earned during the winter. I'm supposed to get married in September, but whether that would go ahead anyway with the government guidelines [on social distancing] I don't know."

Jockeys are familiar with missing long periods through injury, but in such cases they have the Professional Riders Insurance Scheme (Pris) to fall back on.

"Pris was a big help to me when I was injured but obviously they don't expect all the jockeys to be off at the same time," said Quinlan, who rode 33 winners during the season after returning from a four-month injury layoff in October.

"There are talks something might be put out for jockeys that really need it, but I don't know how far they'd go with that. There are jockeys already struggling for rides and winners and it's got to be a big fear for them."

Adam Wedge, who was riding high after winning the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on 50-1 shot Lisnagar Oscar prior to British racing's shutdown, is another jump jockey with fears over the current plight.

"It's scary," he said. "As jockeys we're all self-employed and there's no income from racing coming in. I'm quite lucky, I ride for Evan [Williams] and I've been going in there and he's said he'd pay me a wage while I'm working. But it's worrying not knowing how long we won't be racing for."

Aside from Aintree, other valuable meetings in the north have been lost during the six-week suspension, including the Scottish Grand National meeting at Ayr, but Kinross trainer Lucinda Russell is more preoccupied with the longer-term financial effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Grand National is the biggest race to be cancelledCredit: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

"The black cloud behind all this is it's going to lead to another big recession and people are going to be less likely to buy horses," she said.

"We're lucky because we don't have any large outstanding loans, but I'm worried about some of our owners who are in the whisky, gin, hospitality and pub businesses. We're coping with the immediate effect, but the worry is the long-term picture."

Russell has turned away all 60 of her winter horses including 2017 Grand National winner One For Arthur, who was being readied for another crack at Aintree next month.

"People in racing are used to emergency situations like this, we've had foot and mouth, bad weather and the equine flu," she said. "The season has finished a month early and we'll miss out on trying to get a big boost to our prize-money, but hopefully we'll come out the other side.

"We have 40 staff and they'll be remaining on the books. Our jockeys are employed by us and will continue to get an income. The work-riders are insulated from this as well, but we might have to make one or two redundancies in the yard."

Dual-purpose trainer Brian Ellison, another who was planning a Grand National bid with Definitly Red, has also been pressed into drastic action following the abrupt end to the jumps season.

"Things have changed dramatically from yesterday with owners wanting to lay their horses off," he said on Wednesday. "They're saying no racing up to the end of April, but it's more than likely to be longer.

"The financial impact is massive. You don't charge owners full training fees and cut the figure right down. Some owners will take their horses home as well. We've still got the same outlay with feed, staff and everything else.

"The support package announced by the government yesterday [Tuesday] is a help, particularly with the rates. I won't be laying any staff off. When we come back we need the staff, so we've got to look after them."

Owner Dave Armstrong, whose own business North Sea Logistics has been affected by government restrictions, has 19 horses between four northern trainers and is not making any knee-jerk reactions.

"I've not roughed off my horses as yet," he said. "I spoke to all my trainers yesterday and these guys have still got to make a living – we've got to support the trainers.

"It's massively disappointing to lose the Scottish National meeting at Ayr as I was planning on running ten horses over the two days. But in the greater scheme of things it's a small price to pay and hopefully we'll get racing back on."

Ayr: Scottish National day was sold outCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Ayr will be one of the tracks to suffer most with the two-day Scottish National meeting and first two Flat fixtures already cancelled.

The track's managing director David Brown said: "This is a devastating blow to Ayr racecourse, but the safety and health of the public has to take priority.

"The Coral Scottish Grand National was already a sell-out, with 19,000 tickets sold, and it's the biggest and busiest day of the year in Scotland.

"To lose this level of revenue seriously impacts our business and it's an extremely challenging time for everyone concerned."

The BHA met with racecourse executives and horsemen on Wednesday to consider all financial options for British racing during the shutdown period, including a financial submission to government.

A joint statement read: "We know these are anxious times for everyone in our industry. While everyone is worrying about the health of their families, we now face this huge disruption. We know people are worried about their jobs and the survival of their businesses. We are working round-the-clock to present the most powerful case we can to the UK and devolved governments."

Read more:

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Uncertainty around racing's return as coronavirus pandemic shuts down the sport

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