The Thoroughbred Group has voiced its disapproval of the suggestion that trainers should boycott television interviews unless they begin to receive payment for their contribution.
The organisation brings together the five key participant groups within the sport; the Racehorse Owners Association, the National Trainers Federation, the Professional Jockeys Association, the National Association of Stable Staff and the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.
The boycott – currently scheduled for Sandown on Saturday – has been proposed by the Professional Racing Association, a separate body founded by Peter Savill – a long-standing racing figure and former chair of the British Horseracing Board which was the forerunner of the British Horseracing Authority.
The PRA claims to represent the interests of around 170 trainers and is not aligned to the official body of the NTF. It said in a statement on Monday: “Unless the racecourses and media companies resolve this particular issue by Saturday, the PRA trainer members will refrain from giving interviews at Sandown on Saturday.”
Members of the PRA have asked for payments from media rights companies to allow access to its trainers on racedays, putting them in line with jockeys, who receive an annual group fee for TV input which is put towards their insurance scheme.
Thoroughbred Group statement
In response the Thoroughbred Group has released a statement that reads: “While the Thoroughbred Group fully understands participant frustrations around how the sport’s income is distributed, with 2024 continuing the recent trend of falling real-terms prize-money, we cannot support the action proposed by the PRA.
“The sport should be working together to ensure that everybody is remunerated fairly, and any increased contributions should not be helping to fund groups that sit outside of the sport’s governance structure.
“Thoroughbred Group members are confident that the Commercial Partnerships proposal that is currently being debated by the industry presents a more constructive blueprint for the growth of the sport.
“Talks are progressing with the RCA and several individual courses, with increased alignment across a number of areas of the proposal, which includes media commitments.
“There is still work to do however on finding agreement around the fairest way to measure racecourse contribution to prize-money. We look forward to the BHA board discussing the merits of the final proposal in the next few months.”
Racehorse Owners Association
Louise Norman, chief executive of the ROA, added: “Whilst we need central agreements to reflect a fair and equitable finance model for our sport, they must be embedded in a collective industry that prioritises engagement and recruitment across racing enthusiasts, racegoers and importantly owners.
“The sport needs the media and broadcasting support, not a divisive demand that simply takes money for the administration of the PRA via a trainers’ commission. At a time when the sport should be focused on driving increased revenue and engagement into the sport, these disruptive headlines simply accelerate the loss of fans and owners, and continue to harm British racing as a whole.
“I know from frequent discussions with owners, including from this weekend at Cheltenham, that many of them to do not support this. Owners continuously underpin this sport, and their patience is wearing thin as their wants and needs continue to be either undermined or ignored across the sport – that must and will change.”
Paul Johnson, chief executive of the NTF, said: “Trainers’ media work is just one example of the effort that participants put in to ensure that our sport can go ahead and be an engaging spectacle for the customer.
“My belief, however, is that it is counterproductive for us to focus on payments for individual aspects of what we do and that we need to focus on the bigger picture of a wider revenue sharing agreement with racecourses if we are to bring about the meaningful change required to set the sport on a more successful path.”
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