A RISE in attendances was the welcome positive among some otherwise generally downbeat statistics in Horse Racing Ireland’s 2011 report yesterday which revealed a 10-year low in the average number of horses in training in this country.
Total racecourse betting also dropped last year with a dramatic 9.2 per cent collapse in on-course bookmaker turnover dipping the layers total tally for 2011 under the €100 million mark to €97.5 million.
There was also an eight per cent drop in the total number of owners here while prize-money of €44.4 million was 3.5 per cent lower than 2010.
The total number of horses in training last year was down 11.7 per cent to 9,832 while the average at any one time was down 12.8 per cent to 5,030, the lowest tally in 10 years.
“The weakness of the horses in training figure is a cause for real concern as this is the area where rural employment is most affected. This is one of the many challenges which must be addressed in the coming year,” HRI’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh said yesterday.
Kavanagh pointed out the continuing impact of the economic recession on Irish racing and said its capacity to rebuild has been severely limited by successive cutbacks to its budget, totalling 26 per cent since 2008.
“This is a direct consequence of low betting duties and the movement of betting revenues online and off-shore. The negative effect of this on prize-money and investment has had damaging effects throughout the industry,” he said.
“Our prize-money is at its lowest level for 10 years, at a time when other major European racing countries are announcing prize-money increases,” Kavanagh added.
However, there were some positives in yesterday’s figures with attendances on Ireland’s racecourses jumping 3.3 per cent last year to 1.24 million. There was also a dramatic rise in bloodstock sales at public auction in Ireland to €81 million. Irish-foaled exported sales were also up 6.5 per cent to €156.5 million.
“The growth in racecourse attendance is particularly welcome given the pressure that leisure and retail markets generally have been under and I congratulate the racecourses who have worked hard to attract and retain racegoers,” Kavanagh reported.
“Strong bloodstock sales overall and growth in the value of exports for Irish-bred horses show that the reputation and value of the Irish thoroughbred remains high and this gives us confidence that this figure will continue to grow,” he added.
There was also an increase in Tote betting last year but much of that was due to international “co-mingling” deals.
Even allowing for those improvements, though, HRI pointed out how declines in a number of key areas show the limited nature of any recovery and the scale of the challenges that lie ahead for racing.
HRI’s chief executive stressed the importance of the review group into racing’s administration announced last month by the Minister for Agriculture, Food the Marine, Simon Coveney.
“The Government’s recently announced plans, to extend the betting duty regime to remote betting and exchanges and to carry out a review of the industry, offer the prospect of a secure funding mechanism for racing and we look forward to working with Minister Coveney and his Department on this task,” Kavanagh said.
