Second round of cuts will see prize money cut by £2.1 million for the remainder of 2010 as body attempts to find savings of £3.75 million.
Thursday 8th July 2010
As part of an effort to reduce expenditure, the Horserace Betting Levy Board has revealed that it will have to find savings of £3.75 million for the remainder of the year with prize money bearing the brunt of the cuts.
The Horserace Betting Levy Board is responsible for assessing and collecting contributions from bookmakers in the UK via a duty and then distributing these funds for the improvement of the sport and veterinary sciences.
This most recent revelation comes on top of cuts announced earlier this year that totalled £4.6 million while prize money for the remainder of 2010 is set to be slashed by a further £2.1 million.
“The Horserace Betting Levy Board very much regrets having to make further expenditure reductions in 2010 and we all understand that these will have a considerable and very unwelcome effect,” said Paul Lee, Chairman for the Horserace Betting Levy Board.
“Indications from bookmakers of the estimated yield of the 48th Levy Scheme ending on March 31 proved very inaccurate earlier in the year. As a result, the Bookmakers' Committee has agreed to provide information to assist the Horserace Betting Levy Board in its efforts to improve forecasting.”
The latest round of cuts will also include £450,000 from fixture incentives while £625,000 in savings is expected from other departments such as breeders' prizes and veterinary and research costs.
“We are in a crisis,” said Paul Dixon, President of the Racehorse Owners Association, before this most recent announcement.
“Racing as we know it cannot continue. We have been tinkering at the edges, putting on more fixtures and hoping that would increase the return from the levy and the opposite has happened.
“It can't go on. We cannot ask people to buy and keep racehorses when they are getting only just over £1,000, less than a month's training fees, if they win a race. It's a joke.”
