A SURVEY conducted by The Irish Field this week among racehorse trainers and horse breeders reveals a sector already in significant financial distress, with more pain expected in the coming months.

The results suggest that the viability of many training yards and stud farms hangs in the balance. The biggest challenge facing trainers appears to be collection of training fees, while breeders expressed anxiety over how the autumn bloodstock sales season will unfold.

Key findings from the survey were:

  • Only 14% of racehorse trainers surveyed expressed confidence that their businesses could survive beyond a year if the Covid-19 crisis continues. 54% said they were not confident their businesses could last beyond six months.
  • 46% of trainers say they have less employees now than they had in March. 54% report no change and no trainers surveyed have increased staff numbers.
  • Over 65% of breeders expect turnover for the rest of the year to be down by 25% or more for the rest of 2020. Most of those farms predict the drop will be 50% or bigger.
  • Two-thirds of stud farms surveyed have not availed of any Covid-19 Government financial supports.

    • Michael Grassick, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, said: “I am not surprised by the results. Most trainers were struggling before the Covid-19 crisis came along.”

    The majority of the trainers who took part in the survey expressed satisfaction with how Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board have handled the crisis so far. Grassick agreed but says more could be done to help more trainers stay solvent. “The one thing which I feel would help is to allow trainers to collect training fees through Horse Racing Ireland. We almost got that over the line before but it never happened. Jockeys get their fees deducted directly from owners’ HRI accounts. Trainers should be in a similar position.”

    Grassick added that it was important that racehorse owners be allowed to go racing as soon as possible. “Owners pay for everything, that’s the bottom line, and they should have been allowed back earlier. They won’t be a large number of them and they won’t be there all day."

    CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RACEHORSE TRAINER SURVEY RESULTS

    CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STUD FARM SURVEY RESULTS