Overview

• Fixtures at Carlisle, Uttoxeter, Lingfield and Kempton were cancelled as jockeys and industry leaders rallied in Parliament Square under the BHA’s Axe The Racing Tax campaign.
• BHA-commissioned analysis forecasts at least a £66 million first-year hit to the sport and 2,752 jobs at risk if duty on racing bets rises from 15% to 21%.
• BHA chair Lord Allen called the potential change an existential threat to the sport, warning of damage across the breeding-to-racing ecosystem.
• Trainer John Gosden told the Westminster event that higher costs would force layoffs at his yard, describing the proposal as taking the lifeblood out of the game.
• Exchequer Secretary Dan Tomlinson framed the consultation as levelling the playing field and simplifying the system, while organisers described the stoppage as the sport’s first voluntary shutdown in modern times.