'Racing is at a moment of crisis - we have to get this right or we will see a great industry decline'

Racing's influence in the House of Commons has never quite recovered from the events of 1892, when Sir Wilfrid Lawson, the radical Liberal MP, finally succeeded in his long-running campaign to end the practice of parliament rising for the Derby. In the decades since, racing's once numerous tribe in Westminster has dwindled to a rump of genuine enthusiasts, but today's cohort of MPs does include one with an extraordinary connection that might be unparalleled in parliamentary history. 

George Freeman, Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, not only has a brother, Edward, who trains in California, he is the son of a Grand National-winning jockey. In 1958, Arthur Freeman rode the Irish horse Mr What to a 30-length victory, the highlight of a riding career that included winning the King George, victories at the Cheltenham Festival and riding for the Queen Mother. 

Freeman snr's story is as tragic as it is triumphant, though. His riding career ended in 1960 when a fall at Plumpton left him in a coma for three days and, while he subsequently set up in Newmarket as a trainer, the most fateful legacy of his riding career was the numerous untreated head injuries that were to derail his life.

"Dad's life is the sort of story that racing now thankfully doesn't see often these days and is very committed to avoiding," Freeman says. "Back in the day they were riding with cork helmets and no body protection and over a 15-year career as a leading jockey there were a lot of falls and undiagnosed head injuries, culminating in his final injury and retirement. 

"After his riding career he went into training and, while a brilliant jockey, he wasn't a natural businessman and went through the all-too-familiar cycle of difficulties which so many top sporting figures suffer after retirement: depression, gambling, alcohol and eventual bankruptcy and divorce. 

"By the spring of '67, less than ten years after his triumph in the National, the bailiffs arrived, my poor mother left with me and my two brothers and he lost everything, the wife he loved, his three children and his livelihood."

Freeman was just a baby when his parents' marriage broke down. Despite growing up near Newmarket, where his father continued to live, he was made a ward of court and was unable to meet him until he was 18. It was to be a sadly short-lived rekindling of their relationship, as Arthur Freeman died in 1988, aged just 62. Yet the mostly absent presence of a sporting hero father has had a profound influence on Freeman's life, not least in bequeathing a close connection to racing. 

"At a very basic level, I have always loved racing because it has been the only link I had with him," says Freeman. "Meeting so many people racing over the years with happy memories of him has always been a joy. The racing fraternity is often called a family and one I've always felt very welcome and at home in, whether hot-walking as a student at Woodbine in my brother Edward's yard, at point-to-points or at Gold Cup or Guineas days." 

Woodbine racecourse in Canada formed part of the young George Freeman's racing educationCredit: Bill Selwyn

That connection prompted Freeman to set up the social enterprise Bridge of Hope in 2018, the 60th anniversary of his father's National win, to help people rebuilding from a "life collapse" find jobs in racing. It also led to him becoming a key supporter of the sport during the last round of levy reform negotiations, working closely with then BHA chair Steve Harman to secure the 2017 changes which resulted in a funding increase of around £35 million.

Now Freeman is again stepping forward to support the sport. Having recently returned to the back benches after serving as minister for science, research and innovation, he is free to speak at the debate on affordability checks at Westminster Hall on Monday, when he intends to warn that racing's future is being put at jeopardy. 

"It's very clear talking to people in the industry that we are now at a moment of crisis," he says. "You don't have to be an expert to know how serious it is. Having stood down from the front bench, I had a bit more time in the autumn and I started watching the racing at the weekends leading up to Christmas and it was very striking. 

"There were some very good races but very often there were only four or five horses running, and then they cut to races in Ireland with 15-20 horses running. So you can see there's a huge problem. 

"Prize-money is so paltry compared to Ireland and France. While the big integrated Formula 1-style outfits have the resources to thrive, if there isn't enough prize-money to sustain the pyramid of owners, trainers, stable hands and racecourses that are the grassroots of racing and breeding, we won't have a sustainable industry or sport."

The government has a social, economic and historic incentive to protect the sport, Freeman insists. "It's a very powerful part of our economy as well as our history. And it's one that all governments have a duty to make sure is sustainable.

"When I went around the world as a minister, drumming up inward investment into UK science and technology, you'd be amazed how many times people after the meeting want to talk to you about football and racing. 

"Domestically, it's a key industry for so many government policy goals. All governments are looking for industries that go out beyond London, that support levelling up, that reach into rural and marginal economies and offer career life chances. Few can match racing for its reach." 

The greatest threat to racing's sustainability are intrusive affordability checks on punters, which have already contributed to huge sums of betting activity disappearing from the market. The latest Gambling Commission figures showed betting turnover on the sport fell by £900m in 2022-23, while the sport has warned the incremental damage to racing's income of the government's proposed formal checks being implemented would be £50m per annum.

"I'm not at all ignorant or relaxed about the damages of gambling. My father went bust from gambling," Freeman says. "But it is really clear we haven't yet got affordability checks right and the hundred thousand signatures [in the petition calling for checks to be scrapped] speaks volumes.

"Parliament is there for a reason. Government sets out a policy aim, in this case to tackle the growing blight of online gambling addiction, and it is the job of the Commons and Lords to scrutinise it, to amend it and make sure that it is right and fit for purpose. The debate on Monday is a really important part of that. And we have to get this right or else we will see a great industry decline."

What right looks like is the crux of the issue, of course. Freeman declines to set out an alternative proposition, but adds: "I fear at the moment that it is a sledgehammer to crack a nut in terms of the gambling problem and it's not being viewed in the context of the wider importance of this industry or the wider causes of gambling addiction.

"We must make sure that in trying to tackle a complex social problem like online gambling harm we don't inadvertently render racing unsustainable. We need to look at ways to promote responsible betting, increase the return of betting revenue to the sport and support racing in its great work to widen access, invest in the highest standards of welfare for horses and people, and deepen racing's role in communities up and down the country."

While Freeman has returned to the back benches and recently said Labour were "very likely" to win the next general election, his political ambitions are not over. He will stand for re-election in Mid Norfolk and, if re-elected (he has a 22,500 majority), racing will be able to count Freeman among its allies in the next parliament. 

"The sustainability of racing is a big issue for me, as is the work I've been doing on concussion and brain research, and the work I've done in memory of my dad setting up the Bridge of Hope with the Racing Foundation," he says. "There are lots of really useful things one can do as a backbench MP that you can't do as a minister. I think it's really important as an MP to use those freedoms to make a positive difference for good causes."

Freeman's appeal

George Freeman has few mementos of his father's time in racing, which prompted him to enter the fray when the owner's trophy for Mr What's National victory came up for sale a decade ago. "I bought it back at an auction in an act of just mad nostalgia," he says. "I'm still paying the bill!"

The location of the jockeys' trophy is unknown, although Freeman is hopeful it will one day turn up. He is also keen to discover if Racing Post readers can help him reconnect with his father's racing career.

"I was taken out of Dad's arms age 11 months and, having not known him as I was growing up, I'm always hungry for memorabilia and photographs and memories. So if anyone knew him, I'm really grateful for them reaching out."

If you can help, please get in touch at editor@racingpost.com and the Racing Post will pass on your message.

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