ARMAGEDDON is close.
And so few people in racing seem to really believe it.
Betfred are huge supporters of racing through their sponsorship of all the Classics – so it’s punters like you and I being hit by their shop closures Credit: Alamy
A brilliant Royal Ascot, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Glorious Goodwood just paper over the cracks.
Don’t be fooled.
Last week it was announced 132 Betfred betting shops will close with the loss of 600 jobs.
In 2016 there were around 9,000 betting shops in Britain. At its peak there were in the region of 16,000.
In 2025, it was reported the number had dropped to 5,825. Now the figure is in the region of 5,000.
Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, said last month it would be cutting 500 jobs as part of “operational efficiency” measures.
My belief is that many in power in racing are blasé – in the extreme – about betting and betting shop closures.
The feeling most seem to have is racing will survive and the show will just go on.
Most read in Horse Racing
Wrong. To coin a phrase in Pretty Woman: “Big mistake, BIG. Huge.”
Someone in power has to grasp and grasp quickly that we are close to Armageddon.
You might think a few hundred betting shops here and there will make no difference.
But we are now at the point where every single closure brings the sport closer to destruction.
A massive amount of prize-money cash comes from media rights and data fees for live video streams and betting displays.
What is important is people wagering in the shops, and while of course if one shop closes near another there will be a certain number of people filtering to the remaining shop, there is no doubt every closure means less money for horse racing.
Increased taxation is killing off betting shops.
Every year it goes up more shops will be shut.
Eventually there will be none left.
Racing must act and lobby. Now.
It has been far too lacklustre over the Government and Gambling Commission attack on British racing.
Where are our leaders? Silent.
This is a war. And I repeat we are very, very close to Armageddon. No exaggeration.
If you don’t believe me you are a fool.
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