The Jockey Club Posts Record Annual Turnover

The Jockey Club has announced record turnover and an increase in profits on the back of record attendances last year, which comes in spite of making record reinvestments back into racing.

The owner of many of British horseracing’s assets, including the Grand National, the Cheltenham Festival, The Investec Derby and The National Stud, has put more than £415m back into horseracing over the last 10 years through contributions to prize money and upgrading facilities for customers and participants, according to its annual results.

The Jockey Club, which is governed by Royal Charter to reinvest all profits into British racing, contributed an industry record £19.9m to the sport’s prize money last year.

The 336 fixtures staged in 2015 by Jockey Club Racecourses offered average prize money in excess of £130,000 per fixture, an increase of circa £10,000 per fixture and 64% more than the average available outside the group. In the last 10 years The Jockey Club has contributed £154.1m to prize money from its resources.

A commercially successful 2015 enabled The Jockey Club to deliver its prize money outlay and reinvest operating expenditure into enhancing a range of customer facilities during the year. For the seventh consecutive year the group posted record turnover, up by 7.1% on prior year to £183.3m.

Attracting record crowds of nearly 2 million people to The Jockey Club’s 15 racecourses, growth was also driven by record hospitality sales, media incomes and a successful year for its Jockey Club Live joint venture.

The results mean The Jockey Club has grown its turnover by 82% since 2008, its first full year of operating solely as a commercial group (2008: £100.9m).

Simon Bazalgette, group chief executive, The Jockey Club, said: “Every penny we make at The Jockey Club we reinvest into British racing, in line with our Royal Charter commitments to support the sport’s long-term health. In 2015 more people than ever came racing with us, more horses than ever used our training facilities at Newmarket and Lambourn, The National Stud went from strength-to-strength and we were able to commit record sums to prize money, enhance facilities for customers and horsemen, and support initiatives to ensure our sport remains part of the fabric of British national life.

“Significant progress was also made on several industry matters, including our sport’s new stakeholder structure, Government commitments over British racing’s funding, an exciting new terrestrial broadcast deal from 2017 and a more efficient vehicle to provide media to betting shops from 2018, while The Jockey Club welcomed the support of new commercial partners and the sport as a whole reached more than 40% of the UK’s television viewing audience.

“In 2016 we plan for our prize money contribution to increase by a further £1m to £20.9m, subject to abandonments. That would be an increase of 61% since 2010 as a means of supporting British racing as part of the £415m we’ve put back into the sport these past 10 years. As we look ahead, we intend to find new ways to innovate and help to grow British racing, and protect its fantastic traditions and heritage. On the back of such a strong year in 2015, I have every confidence that our sport can mean more, to more people, more often, in the years ahead.”