HORSE RACING INDUSTRY STRIKES TO PROTECT GAMBLING PROFITS – NOT HORSES, NOT FAMILIES
The British racing industry is up in arms – not about the welfare of horses, not about the devastation gambling addiction wreaks on families, because the government may dare to tax betting companies a little more fairly.
We think it is worth noting that…
In the UK, a government-commissioned review under the Sunak government revealed that 300,000 people were problem gamblers, with another 1.8 million at heightened risk.
On Wednesday, September 10, horse racing in Britain will grind to a halt for one day in protest.
This so-called “strike” has nothing to do with workers demanding safety or better pay. Instead, it’s about protecting the flow of gambling profits that fuel the industry – the very profits made off human misery and animal suffering.
THE FIXTURES PUT ON HOLD
The organisers want attention, and they’ll get it – not through compassion, but through lobbying at Westminster, where industry leaders, jockeys, and owners will pressure MPs to protect their cash pipeline.
WHY THE TANTRUM?
The UK Treasury is considering aligning betting taxes with other forms of online gambling.
Right now, horse racing enjoys a lower tax rate (15%) than online casinos (21%).
The idea is simple: treat betting on horse racing the same as betting on slot/poker machines.
But for the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), this threatens their golden goose.
They argue higher taxes mean less money for bookmakers, which in turn means less sponsorship, reduced prize pots, and fewer “perks” for punters.
In other words: a tax rise makes racing less attractive to gamblers.
And if fewer people gamble, the industry shrinks.
For activists, that sounds like progress.
GAMBLING ADDICTION & HORSE RACING’S HYPOCRISY
Let’s be clear: this is not about saving jobs or “protecting tradition.”
Racing has already been propped up for decades by betting levies and subsidies.
The BHA itself admits over £100 million each year flows into the sport from betting profits alone.
That money doesn’t come from nowhere – it comes from addicted gamblers, from families losing homes, from parents unable to feed their kids because their pay packet disappeared at the bookies.
The industry knows this.
They dress it up as “heritage” or “culture,” but at its core, horse racing is a gambling machine, just like the pokies.
The horses don’t get a say.
Horses are forced to compete, pushed to their limits, and discarded when they’re no longer profitable.
And when governments finally suggest that gambling companies should pay a fairer share, the industry throws a tantrum – staging the first voluntary strike in modern history, not to protect horses, but to protect betting.
A SYSTEM BUILT ON EXPLOITATION
The BHA warns of a £330 million “loss” over five years and thousands of jobs at risk – the racing industry is trying to claim that the increase in taxes will be damaging to the community – however we ask…
But who pays the real price?
The horses who are whipped down the track.
The gamblers trapped in cycles of debt.
The children growing up in homes torn apart by addiction.
Meanwhile, racing leaders insist they are “more than just a sport” – calling themselves “a cherished part of our culture.”
But culture that thrives on cruelty and addiction is not something worth protecting.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
This strike is part of a campaign called “Axe the Racing Tax.”
Their petition, we’re told, has attracted around 10,000 signatures.
But compare that to the millions of lives damaged by gambling, and it’s hard to see their complaints as anything more than self-interest dressed up as public good.
For activists, there’s only one positive takeaway: the horse racing industry is rattled.
If higher taxes make racing less profitable for bookies, fewer gamblers will be lured in, and fewer horses will suffer.
Whether horse racing is slowly taxed out of existence or banned outright, either would be a step forward for both human welfare and animal rights.
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#MOHM THREATENED?
We’ve been threatened by those in the horse racing industry and those who benefit from horse slaughter more times than we can count.
But we are not going away.
We are going to persist until horse slaughter no longer exists for any purpose within Australia -- and until the horse racing industry makes drastic changes.
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