UK horse racing to strike over remote gambling tax harmonisation

Britain’s horseracing industry will stage an unprecedented one-day strike on September 10, with four scheduled fixtures at Lingfield, Carlisle, Uttoxeter and Kempton cancelled as part of a coordinated protest against a government proposal to harmonise remote gambling taxes. The agreed action, supported by the sport’s ruling body and course owners, is expected to cost the industry hundreds of thousands of pounds on the day and is aimed at drawing attention to what organisers say would be a broader, potentially devastating shift in the tax regime governing racing compared with other forms of gambling.

The four meetings will be rearranged for later in the calendar, as organizers press the case that raising the racing tax from 15% to 21% to align with online gaming would undermine the sport’s financial stability. The move is coordinated by the British Horseracing Authority, with the Jockey Club and Arena Racing Company backing the decision. In total, racing fixtures face disruption across the country as part of the Axe The Racing Tax campaign, which argues that a single, higher remote-gambling rate would harm thousands of jobs and threaten a sport that attracts millions of...