Sector outlines five-year plan for horse racing

Horse Racing Ireland has unveiled a five-year plan to develop the industry.The strategy, published as Irish punters prepared for the annual exodus to the Cheltenham Festival, sees a dramatic growth in prize money, tighter controls on breeding and initiatives to increase funding for the sector.

But it was immediately condemned by bookmakers, who will help foot the bill.

Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Mr Brian Kavanagh said the plan was predicated on the need to provide secure funding for the industry over the medium term. I

t expects revenue from the off-course betting levy - which is channelled back to the industry through the Horse & Greyhound Fund - to provide the bulk of its funding requirement.

This will be augmented by increasing revenue from other areas, such as the tote, charges on on-course bookmakers and a higher thoroughbred foal levy.

The industry is lobbying for the off-course levy - which has dropped from 5 per cent to 2 per cent in recent years - to be raised to 3 per cent. At that level, it says the industry will no longer rely on State subvention outside the fund.

The money will go towards increasing prize money to €60 million a year from its current level of €46 million, upgrading racecourses and facilities, and keeping entrance charges down.

Horse Racing Ireland also hopes to help in developing an all-weather track over the next five years. Mr Kavanagh said the loss of 38 of the calendar's 304 racing days to bad weather last year indicated the need for such a track.

Bookmakers attending race meetings will see their contribution to the industry rise from 0.3 per cent of turnover to 1.3 per cent under the proposals.

Last night, a spokesman for the Bookmakers Association, Mr David Power, said the plans would only chase money away from the industry and into online betting exchanges.

Mr John O'Reilly, chief executive of Ireland's largest bookmaker Paddy Power, said: "Any effort to go back on betting tax rates would not only be unfair but completely counterproductive in terms of betting tax revenues."

People betting on events other than Irish horse racing through off-course bookmakers, should not be forced to finance the Irish horse racing industry, he said.

Horse Racing Ireland intends other revenue stream to make a greater contribution to the industry. These include the tote, which will increase its return to the industry to €6 million in 2007 from its current level of €2 millionunder arrangements where it will become available online and through off-course betting shops.

Breeders face a 15 per cent rise each year over the life of the plan in the levy on each thoroughbred foal born. Charges for databases used by bookies and online gambling ventures will also rise.

The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, welcomed the document, which he called a "clear and cogent plan". Attending its publication, he said he would work to ensure the industry received adequate funding, noting that it employed 25,000 people on a full- or part-time basis.