Hetta Harris

Director of Education at The British Racing School

[America'sBestRacing @ABRLive]

First, the Kentucky Derby. Now the Belmont Stakes. Five weeks ago, @reredevaux became the first woman to win the Kentucky Derby.

Now, she, @jose93_ortiz, and Golden Tempo are @BelmontStakes winners. The reaction says it all.

[Chris Fawcett @chrisgambler247]

Since the Budget, two completely different versions of reality have emerged. On one hand you have a significant number of people within racing who genuinely believe they “won”: that holding racing at 15% while pushing Remote Gaming Duty to 40% and sports betting to 25% somehow protects the sport. This version treats the Budget as a victory worth celebrating. The problem is that it bears no resemblance to what is actually happening across the betting and gaming industry, which is now facing the most severe financial shock in decades.

Look at the numbers. Rank Group has already said the Budget creates a £40m hit. Last year it made £45m profit and paid £188m in UK taxes. Under the new structure it will make no profit at all and will pay £228m. Flutter has published its projected impact too: £320m in 2026 and £540m in 2027 before mitigation. Even after they cut marketing, reduce UK investment and attempt to offset the damage, they expect hundreds of millions wiped from their UK-facing economics. Evoke has said publicly that the tax changes will lead to thousands of job losses across the industry, reduced investment, weakened products, and significant growth of the unregulated black market as customers migrate away from licensed operators.

And the anger inside the Betting and Gaming Council is deeper than anything we have ever seen. Grainne Hurst said on the Nick Luck podcast on Budget day that a new levy deal would not be happening anytime soon. Michael Dugher was even clearer. There is no exemption for racing. Racing is not protected. Racing’s funding will now be hit by cuts to sponsorship, by pressure on betting shops, and by punters shifting to unlicensed operators. He also made the point that the idea of a big levy increase is now “unlikely” because racing allowed itself to be drawn into a campaign built on completely unrealistic assumptions.

All of this sits on top of the tension that already existed long before the Budget. Racing has become the most expensive product for bookmakers to carry. Media rights costs have risen sharply. Turnover has collapsed. Affordability checks (suggested at £100 a month by the SMF) have hammered bets on racing. Even in stable conditions, racing was already seen by operators as a premium-priced, low-margin, high-cost product. The idea that the relationship was harmonious before this Budget is simply untrue. It was strained.

When the Government asked whether online betting, gaming and pool betting duty should be harmonised, the correct answer from racing and bookmakers alike was straightforward: “No.” No harmonisation. And just as importantly, no moral hierarchy where certain gambling products are singled out for punitive taxation. No framing that implies racing is virtuous while everything else is harmful. A single united response would have shut down the SMF/IPPR proposals instantly, just as similar proposals collapsed in 2024.

But racing did not deliver unity. Some at the top of the sport attended the SMF roundtable. They gave an economically illiterate plan, based on static analysis with no allowance for the black market, credibility. Racing then pushed for its own “special rate.” Some validated the idea that casino and sports betting should be taxed far more aggressively.

What people in racing have failed to understand is that racing is part of a suite of products punters use. Racing is the most expensive. Casino is the most profitable. Sports betting sits somewhere in between. No online bookmaker can profit by servicing win-single racing customers alone. Media rights fees on turnover, levy payments, and all the other costs make it impossible. Racing is only viable if its costs can be spread across the entire ecosystem and bettors use other products as well. That whole ecosystem has just become far more expensive to run.

If operators decide racing isn’t worth promoting, racing becomes a background product. If GGY falls, levy falls. If turnover falls, media rights fees fall. Global operators can cut racing tomorrow and their businesses will continue. Racing cannot cut operators. Racing needs levy, media rights and sponsorship to survive. The dependency is one-way.

Operators are furious. The BGC is furious. Independent bookies will suffer the most, with BetGoodwin already pulling all racing sponsorship. And yet people on the periphery of racing are still declaring victory and still framing operators as the enemy. None of this is grounded in economic reality. Some are even calling for the levy rate to rise, asking for a bigger piece of a far smaller pie.

Racing has not won anything here. It has misunderstood what happened and why. The Budget has not protected the sport. It has destabilised the environment that funds it. If racing wants a viable future, it needs to rebuild unity with the operators it depends on and recognise the fundamental truth that British racing needs a healthy, regulated gambling industry far more than the global gambling industry needs British racing.

Racing must to sever all ties with the anti-gambling lobby. No more round tables with people who pushed £100-a-month affordability checks and called for massive tax rises. It is time for racing to side with those who support gambling, not those who oppose it. Then it must wait for operators to calm down and hope that a path forward can be found. As always, it is the punters and those who work in racing who will suffer if this cannot be resolved.

[At The Races @AtTheRaces]

Another winner for the on-song @ELavelleracing team!

J J Moon returns from a 225-day break in style at @NewtonAbbotRace, cruising up the stands-side before seeing off Ambion View under @CobdenHarry...

[Overthestabledoor @Overthestabled1]

Read about @HettaStevens fascinating racing life from working for the @BRSNewmarket to globe trotting and Royal @Ascot https://t.co/exuppxM2oi #blog #blogger #racinglife

[Lionesses @Lionesses]

WE'RE BACK-TO-BACK EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS!! 🏆

[Hetta Harris @HettaStevens]

@HoskinsSam @NewburyRacing @johnsonhoughton @bishopcharlie12 @HotToTrotRacing Well done Sam 🤩

[careersinracing.com @careersinracing]

JOB ALERT!🙌

🗣 The British Racing School are currently looking to recruit a Yard Manager to join their team in Newmarket!

The role will involve coordinating the exercise and care of circa 80 ex-racehorses on site. This will include giving guidance to trainees on stable management and overseeing their work in the yard.

To find out more about this job opportunity, click the link 👉 https://t.co/FKAdERInuk

#CareersinRacing #Careers #BritishHorseracingSchool #YardManager #Horserascing

[Hetta Harris @HettaStevens]

@AidanColeman @BrianSheerin91 Great interview & very real issues for sportsmen when forced into retirement. Keep talking & striking up conversations with new people to you in the industry (there are lots) - you will hit on something that ignites a small spark.

[ITV Racing @itvracing]

"[Robbie Llewellyn] said ride him like he's 40/1 and nick what you can" 🗣️

Liam Harrison spoke to Luke Harvey after an excellent ride on Titan Discovery 👏

#ITVRacing | @WindsorRaces | @RobbieLlew

[John Berry @JohnWathenBerry]

Always good to see the @BRSNewmarket string when they come on the Heath @NewmarketGallop. Very impressed by the standard of riding: a well-disciplined, orderly string with all the riders sitting nicely, quietly & looking well in control.

[TDN @theTDN]

The 2024 @jockeyclub T.I.P. Thoroughbred of the Year Award recognizing a Thoroughbred that has excelled in a non-competitive career goes to Rockaway (Rockport Harbor), a 14-year-old police horse for @CoralGablesPD.

https://t.co/9B1QIunoVK

[JD MOORE @JDMOOREFR]

Delighted to see MIDNIGHT JEWEL gain his 8th career win this afternoon under longtime partner @pinch1234 for @CharlieLongsdon and Gillian Morgan! Congratulations everyone including @HettaStevens 👏🏽🏆

[TDN @theTDN]

"While technology fuels our collaboration, it is the welfare of horses and the people who tend to them lies at the heart of what we do," writes @lindy_maurice, CEO of Thoroughbred Industry Careers (@TBredCareers), in her Letter to the Editor.
https://t.co/D0uksTTaQi

[Sally Ann Grassick @sagrassick]

Kentucky based people: I need to courier something to Churchill Downs for one of Todd Pletcher’s owners and I’m looking for a safe place to send it to in case it doesn’t arrive before they leave town after the weekend. Please and thanks

[The Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (The TBA) @TheTBA_GB]

🏆TBA STUD EMPLOYEE AWARD🏆

⏰Applications for the 2024 Stud Employee Award close Friday at 5pm!

For more information & to nominate someone, visit the TBA website👉 https://t.co/AIXNkcH4RJ

#Employees #awards #studemployeeaward

[Robbie Llewellyn Racing @RobbieLlew]

As the Jumps season comes to a close today, we would just like to thank all of our owners for the continued support;

To our amazing team - without all of their hard work this wouldn’t be possible!

A amazing second season with a Licence.

25 Winners 🏆
23% Win strike rate!!

[Hetta Harris @HettaStevens]

Congratulations @rhannonracing with Haatem @NewmarketRace Craven Stakes. Pictured is his dam Hard Walnut breaking her maiden for us 3/2/12 @LingfieldPark giving Olly his first winner as a trainer @CharlockStud #toughasteak

[Robbie Llewellyn Racing @RobbieLlew]

Loup de maulde 🌟A winner 🏆 on Tuesday @TauntonRacing ! Giving the next generation a spin on Friday! Imogen (9) Jasmin (7)

[Kevin Blake @kevinblake2011]

Performance of the week so far? The outstanding @RichardHoiles finding time in one of the busiest weeks of the year to debate a PETA representative and put him right on our behalf. Thank you, Richard. #StandUpForRacing

[Josh Apiafi @joshapiafi]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 to @EquineP the only company associated with Horseracing at the National Equine Show @thenec
Check out the queue for their VR experience👀
Future fan engagement is crutial to the survival (and growth) of the sport, so where are all our other stakeholders? @BHAHorseracing