'It's the perfect storm' - how Britain's struggling racecourses lurched from one crisis slap bang into another

Be they large or small, there has been plenty of evidence in recent weeks of just how hard the economic climate facing Britain's racecourses is.

At the top end of the scale comes Ascot, whose accounts for 2023 were published last week. There was a lot for Ascot's management to be positive about. Turnover rose by nine per cent to £110.9 million, while the racecourse recorded a pre-tax profit of £5.9m, up by nearly three-quarters.

However, those pre-tax profits have still not recovered to levels they reached before the Covid-19 pandemic, while Ebitda – the racecourse's earnings before 'nasties' such as tax and debt payments – rose by only 3.8 per cent.