Hollie Doyle, Tom Marquand and champion jockey Oisin Murphy were among the riders who swapped the racecourse for Parliament Square in London, as racing descended on Westminster to demonstrate its opposition to proposed betting tax changes in the United Kingdom.
Fixtures scheduled for Carlisle, Uttoxeter, Lingfield and Kempton were cancelled in an unprecedented move aimed at highlighting the impact on racing's finances that a rise from the current 15% duty on operator gross profits from racing to the 21% levied on games of chance could have.
There is also an existing 10% levy on bookmakers' gross profits from racing (if over £500,000) that is reinvested into the racing industry.
Economic analysis commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority has suggested the feared tax rise could cost racing at least £66m (€76m) and put 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year, with BHA chair Lord Allen labelling it "nothing short of an existential threat for our sport".
Alongside the record-breaking Doyle, Murphy and Marquand in London were Paul O’Brien, Saffie Osborne, Kieran Shoemark, Lilly Pinchin and former rider Richard Johnson, all clad in 'Axe The Racing Tax’ silks provided by the BHA.
They posed for press photographs holding a banner bearing the same slogan, while a mobile LED billboard lapped the square followed by a horse statue also branded in the insignia.
Various broadcast crews gathered alongside the photographers, with the photo-call preceding an event at the Queen Elizabeth II centre where various leading industry figures were set to speak.
The equivalent betting tax in Ireland is 2% on turnover, which generated €141.2m for the exchequer in 2024, with €99.1m being indirectly returned this year to the horse racing (€79.3m) and greyhound racing (€19.8m) industries via the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund.
That tax could increase to 3% in next month's budget, following a Department of Finance report that estimated a resulting €53m windfall for the state.
Organisations such as the Federation of Irish Sport and Football Association of Ireland have previously called on the Government to use betting revenue to fund other sports.
