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Funding for horseracing slashed in Ireland


Brian Fleming​


IRELAND'S finance minister Brian Lenihan has announced cuts in funding to horseracing and greyhound racing of nearly ten per cent.

Speaking in his Budget speech on Tuesday, Lenihan said the reduction in the Horse & Greyhound Fund would reach €6.6 million.

That represents a decrease from €76.3m in 2008 to€69.7m in 2009.

Lenihan had earlier announced a doubling in the rate of betting tax, from 1 per cent to 2 per cent.

More to follow. . .
 
10% is not a bad result. I thought it would be a lot worse than that. Am I being too simplistic in thinking that an 8k hurdle will drip to 7k and a 20k novice hurdle will drop to 18k? That's not too bad. I'd advocate a bigger drop in the low grade handicaps to maintain the level at the upper level like good handicaps and novice hurdles.
 
Cantoris said:
10% is not a bad result. I thought it would be a lot worse than that. Am I being too simplistic in thinking that an 8k hurdle will drip to 7k and a 20k novice hurdle will drop to 18k? That's not too bad. I'd advocate a bigger drop in the low grade handicaps to maintain the level at the upper level like good handicaps and novice hurdles.
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Agree, the headline from the RP is way OTT...and yeah I think you're being too simplistic in the prize money levels.
 
i would cut all prize money for group 1, 2 and 3 flat races by 15%. coolmore and their ilk dont need the money, and the flat game does not attract the fan base to justify the excessive prizemoney. i have seen attendance figures of less than 2,000 paying customers for racedays in ireland hosting multiple group flat races.
 
I have spoken to a source in HRI. The early indication is that any race with a P Nicholls runner is to be capped at €10K.
 
an capall said:
I have spoken to a source in HRI. The early indication is that any race with a P Nicholls runner is to be capped at €10K.
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He should be banned from sending his horses over here after the blatant team tactics in the last Gold Cup. He should than be publicly flogged and forced to admit that he is a bit slow and doesn't know how to train he's ,just very lucky.
 
Cantoris said:
10% is not a bad result. I thought it would be a lot worse than that. Am I being too simplistic in thinking that an 8k hurdle will drip to 7k and a 20k novice hurdle will drop to 18k? That's not too bad. I'd advocate a bigger drop in the low grade handicaps to maintain the level at the upper level like good handicaps and novice hurdles.
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Prizemoney cuts could well come about, but I would think the capital development plan could be looked at also.

There certainly will not be extra meetings Sheikh!
 
The recession should do the job that the authorities have set out to do.
No.s of horses in training will drop.

It wasn't that many years ago that people (and I recall Johnny Murtagh in particular) where forecasting the end of flat racing in Ireland as any kind of a meaningful Sport due to the lack of people/interest in it. We're headed that way again.

With so little money in circulation for luxury items such as racehorses, a lot of trainers and breeders will go to the wall.

Once the pre recession crops of horses have been processed through the racing system there will be any amount of choice of races for those who are wealthy enough to still own racehorses and they won't have to worry about the small people cluttering up the race card.
 
I've heard rumours that Ireland is not the only place experiencing an economic downturn and that racing might not be the only sector affected.
 
I've recently joined the Council of the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners and I can tell you it was a doom and gloom meeting last night. What I didn't realise is that the link between betting duty and racing's funding has been broken and it is now a grant, one which could be pulled or drastically cut. The government want the betting duty for themselves and will cut the grant over the coming years. It was also noted that Irish racing's greatest political supporters are no longer ministers. So bleak enough times ahead.
 
Grey said:
I've heard rumours that Ireland is not the only place experiencing an economic downturn and that racing might not be the only sector affected.
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Eh..what are you on about there Grey, what point are you making that Gal thinks is genius .
 
I'm just trying to say there may be hard times ahead for racing in Ireland but it will be the same scenario in other countries and many other sectors. I don't think racing in Ireland, or flat racing in Ireland, or even small owners in Ireland are being singled out for particular attention.
 
I don't think racing in Ireland, or flat racing in Ireland, or even small owners in Ireland are being singled out for particular attention
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Racing in Ireland has been singled out by the Government that's why funding is being withdrawn and stallion income is to be taxed.

Depends on what you mean by small owners, you can be a small owner and have a good horse but naturally most people have average or bad horses.
The bad horses don't need to be singled out by Hri anymore as the recession will do the job.
There will be less middle class ownership and this will return Ireland to the time when flat racing in Ireland was a bit of a joke. The same wealthy owners will be winning the races because they're the only ones involved. The logistical problems that large no.s of horses in training caused also resulted in more competitive and better standard racing at the top end.That's just common sense, more horses in training, means more good horses and more bad horses. Coolmore , the Aga or Moyglare etc winning wasn't a given. I don't think we'll be seeing any Elletelle's etc for a while.
 
Racing in Ireland has been singled out by the Government that's why funding is being withdrawn and stallion income is to be taxed.
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What governments give they can also take away. That was always the weakness with the new funding arrangements for racing. Regarding stallion fees, many would say breeders were singled out for special treatment by making them tax exempt in the first place.


That's just common sense, more horses in training, means more good horses and more bad horses.
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I don't think your assumption is correct. The best of the horse population will always be retained for breeding, even in a recession. When numbers grow it is because lower quality mares are being brought into production. More bad horses, yes, but no extra good horses apart from the occasional fluke.

There will be less middle class ownership and this will return Ireland to the time when flat racing in Ireland was a bit of a joke.
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I agree that middle class ownership is likely to decline. The main impact will be on 2-y-old maidens and handicaps. Smaller stables will suffer. Similar things will be happening in other countries and in other economic sectors.
 
I don't think your assumption is correct. The best of the horse population will always be retained for breeding, even in a recession. When numbers grow it is because lower quality mares are being brought into production. More bad horses, yes, but no extra good horses apart from the occasional fluke.
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Grey, your assuming by removing bad racers from the breeding poole and breeding only from the good racers that the no. of good horses bred will grow.Simply not the case.
 
Thank you, Simmo, that was what I was trying to say.

To increase the horse population requires breeding from additional mares. But if the best mares are already in use, then the quality of the mares brought into service in order to increase production cannot be as good. Therefore, other things being equal, there is no great likelihood of the number of good horses increasing as the overall population increases, at least in the short term.
 
It would be a very simple game if good race horses produced good race horses and bad race horses produced bad race horses.
 
Absolutely delighted to see The Curragh redevelopment shelved for the time being. The place needs a face lift but the money being spent on a track that is only really full one day a year is crazy.
 
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