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28 Jul 2022
The Racing Foundation was delighted to welcome more than 200 delegates to the fifth annual Horseracing Industry Conference at Newbury Racecourse last month.
Held on June 30 in partnership with the University of Liverpool Management School, the event was attended by leading figures from across the horseracing industry and hosted by racing presenter Oli Bell.
The conference topic was A healthy balance: balancing economic, environmental and social health to ensure a sustainable racing industry, giving keynote speakers the opportunity to address the challenges affecting the horseracing industry in Britain.
British Horseracing Authority’s Joe Saumarez Smith kicked off the conference as Keynote Address following his appointment as Chair of the regulatory body earlier in the year.
The economic section of the conference explored the funding structure of British racing and examined the implications of the way people bet with experts from the University of Liverpool, Portas Consulting and CMS London on the panel.
Racing’s social license was addressed as delegates listened to a deep dive into the impact of equality, diversity and inclusion in British racing and an equine welfare report was produced from the project team at the Horse Welfare Board.
Horseracing and Thoroughbred Industries MBA graduate Katie Walker also presented her research on the effect of whip use on stride parameters of the racehorse.
Ruth Dancer, who recently completed a scoping exercise into British racing’s sustainability practices, took delegates through a journey of how climate change poses risks to the horseracing industry.
To conclude the 2022 conference, racing’s leaders formed a Leadership Panel where they took questions from attending delegates.
Among the leadership panel was Chief Executive of the National Trainers Federation Paul Johnson, Chief Executive of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Claire Sheppard, and Chief Executive of the Racecourse Association David Armstrong.
Chief Executive of the Racehorse Owners Association Charlie Liverton, and the Director of Integrity and Regulation for the British Horseracing authority Tim Naylor completed the expert panel.
Rhi Lee-Jones, Communications and Events Manager for the Racing Foundation, said: “The 2022 Horseracing Industry Conference was the biggest yet with over 220 tickets allocated.
“I’d like to thank our speakers and panel experts for delivering such thoughtful and challenging dialogue and contributing to insightful debate which I hope engaged and ignited action in our delegates.
“The event would not have been possible without the support of the University of Liverpool Management School so I would like to thank them for their crucial role in the day’s success.
“At the Racing Foundation our aim is to drive industry improvement. Our ambition is for the conference to keep developing in the years to come as an important means of achieving that end.”
The carbon footprint of delegates’ travel to the conference has also been offset by the Racing Foundation through carbon sequestration.
For media reports from the 2022 conference, click here.
To download the presentation slides from the conference, please click on the links below.
The Finances of British Racing: Peter Hawkings Download
Horse Welfare Board update: Mike Etherington-Smith and Francesca Compostella Download
Research: An evidential approach to welfare issues: The effect of whip use on stride parameters of the racehorse: Katie Walker Download
Reporting on Environmental Sustainability in British Racing: Ruth Dancer Download
