Racing is vital to all parts of Britain - and that is why government should want to be on its side

All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall. It is an admirable approach to life, but the three musketeers never had to run British racing or decide whether to show unwavering loyalty to rural communities, bookmakers or a sport some fear may be going to the dogs.

Racing's inextricable financial link to the countryside was highlighted in our three-part series, Racing and the Economy, which showed the extent to which rural businesses benefit from, and are often dependent on, the racing and bloodstock industries. Regardless of whether the connection comes from commercial interaction with training yards, studs or racecourses, it is indisputable that Britain's rural economy would be much poorer without racing.

It is equally true that many racing and bloodstock businesses are threatened by the same government measures that have triggered a wave of rural anger. 

Anyone who heads out for a country drive or walk will likely see banners urging Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government to "Stop The Family Farm Tax", a reference to planned changes to agricultural property relief that will impose a 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1 million.

The BHA referenced the government's decisions in relation to inheritance tax and National Insurance in a public response to the budget that noted the possibility of "significant damage" being caused to "Britain’s rural and racing communities". While that comment was framed within the diplomatic niceties one might expect of a government body, opposition to the budget was clearer and more visible when Fakenham backed farmers by urging them to bring a tractor to a meeting broadcast by ITV Racing in January. 

"This is not a protest," said Fakenham chief executive David Hunter on the track's website, but it looked like the very definition of a protest and prompted a BBC news story that ran under the headline, "Tractor rally at racecourse in protest at tax plans".

The tractor protest at Fakenham was a clear example of racing backing the rural community

One can certainly say that was honourable action on the part of Fakenham, a racecourse set in a deeply rural location that was displaying solidarity with its local community at a time of strife. However, the final part of our series asked whether that sort of approach helps or hinders racing at a time when the industry is in urgent need of government assistance in relation to affordability checks and levy reform.

On the one hand, Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner argued the government will be wary of causing any further harm to rural communities and that this could be used by racing as leverage in future negotiations. 

Conor McGinn, a former Labour shadow minister and now a member of the Haydock racecourse committee, took a different view and urged racing to "pick its battles" and criticise the government only on matters that affect the whole of the industry, warning: "We don't want racing to be seen as part of an anti-government political movement. We don't want to open up a fight on too many fronts with the government."

Read more from the Racing and the Economy series:

Shoes, shavings and money spent in the pub - how a single racehorse brings huge benefit to the economy 

'People come racing and need somewhere to stay, places to eat, and they explore the area - so the course provides enormous economic benefits' 

'We have got ourselves into a ridiculous situation where the government is doing damage to one of Britain's major industries' 

McGinn is far from alone in believing racing must be careful. On both sides of the political spectrum there are racing supporters who feel the sport would be misguided if attempting to associate itself too closely with the rural revolt. Starmer's Labour landslide turned a number of rural constituencies from blue to red, yet there remains a feeling in some quarters that certain senior Labour figures continue to be inherently unsympathetic to countryside campaigners. There is a parallel concern that some of those same influential Labour individuals might consider their rural critics and racing people to be interchangeable. As a result, hostility could be felt equally towards both.

It leaves racing's leadership in a somewhat complicated situation, but one that is far from unfamiliar. After the Welsh government announced its shock plan to ban greyhound racing, the BHA issued a statement that included a commitment to continue its efforts to maintain political approval for horseracing in Wales. It described horseracing as "a sporting, cultural and economic asset to the Welsh nation". Nowhere in the statement was any explicit support shown for greyhound racing. 

The BHA offered no explicit support for greyhound racing when the Welsh government announced plans to ban the sportCredit: Steve Nash

One could argue that might have been a tactical move and that racing was choosing not to associate itself with what could be perceived by some as a sinking ship. Alternatively, one could say that if greyhound racing does eventually disappear, horseracing will be left more vulnerable to attack. 

The very same dilemma is at the heart of the debate around whether racing should unite behind calls for the government to treat betting on the sport in an entirely different and more favourable way to online slots and gaming. There is undoubtedly a powerful moral, logical and commercial case for the regulation and taxation of betting on racing to be viewed as separate to gaming, but would that also ultimately leave racing exposed?

No-one should pretend these are easy questions to answer. In terms of the different ways in which racing could approach gaming, greyhound racing and rural activism, there are pluses and minuses. Fortunately, our Racing and the Economy series underlined that racing is far from just a rural sport.

This Saturday's principal meeting is at Doncaster, a city where you seldom see folk wearing wellies and tweed. The focus then switches to Aintree and a Liverpool community that embraces the Grand National with an uplifting sense of passion and pride. 

Racing might first and foremost seem like a rural sport, but it is also hugely relevant and important to urban Britain. Across the country, in countless rural and urban communities, it is a sport whose financial and social contribution is immense. Racing belongs to all parts of Britain and is vital to all parts of Britain. That should make this and any government want to be firmly on its side.

Read more pieces from Lee Mottershead here:

'The Lord works in mysterious ways' - good luck and great judgement help JP McManus pull off a masterstroke 

Rachael Blackmore shows us what we have been missing as JP McManus crosses another festival prize from his missing list 

'Moments like this show he's here with us and he'll always be there' - Michael O'Sullivan remembered in emotional Champion Chase 

'He who dares wins, Rodney' - some welcome bravery (and running scared of Lossiemouth) delivers Champion Hurdle glory 

'Don't think it was all plain sailing - there were times when I couldn't believe how stupid I had been' 

'Peter O'Sullevan didn't speak to me for 18 months' - the dramatic inside story of how Channel 4 stole Cheltenham from the BBC  

'I believe in the freedom of choice' - Cartmel's vicar brings good sense to the gambling debate 

'I'm not here to tell people how to train but if you hide something from me, I'm gone, I'm done - and you won't see me again'

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