Golfer Lee Westwood has hit out on X to slam the current state of financial affairs in British horse racing.
The 52-year-old posted that owners like him are ‘being taken the p*** out of’ owing mostly to the low prize money on offer while the costs involved in ownership, like fees are so high.
The golfer has owned horses for over two decades, being involved with numerous syndicates and partnerships.
He’s enjoyed some notable runners over the years including a Cheltenham Festival runner and Grade 1 winner, Augusta Kate, who was trained by Willie Mullins and ran in both the Stayers’ Hurdle and Albert Bartlett.
Westwood posted on Wednesday afternoon: “I understand that you’re taking a chance when owning a race horse but when owners feel like they are being taken the p*** out of with higher fees and lower prize money it’s simply time to get out.”
In his post, he reasons: “You can’t have a horse winning 3-4 times in a season and not breaking even.”
Before having a jibe at betting regulations on punters which has long been a talking point in regards to the future of horse racing.
Racing in Britain has come under heavy scrutiny for prize money, when international meetings are offering huge cash incentives for their big races.
Most owners never get their money back on their investments and while some races in Britain have seen the prize money increase this year, other factors have caused more concern for the sport.
Westwood ended the tweet: “As for affordability checks…”
The British Horseracing Authority has previously blamed affordability checks for the fall of betting revenue which has impacted the sport, as less money is going into the industry as a whole.
And in most recent months, a potential tax on racing could see more financial constraints.
The BHA urged for the sport to be taxed separately to all other forms of betting in which an economic analyst found that racing could lose £66m of income a year under the proposed tax bill.
The initial proposed tax was set to group horse racing with all other online games of chance and at the same rate, which worst case scenario could cost the sport £160m in income per year.
Casino and slots are taxed at 21% while sports and racing is currently taxed at a 15% duty.
Treasury ministers are set to make a final decision ahead of the budget in October.
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