British racing to go on strike over betting tax rise
The four scheduled fixtures at Carlisle, Uttoxeter, Lingfield and Kempton will not take place after agreements between the owners of the courses and the British Horseracing Authority, making it the first time the sport has voluntarily refused to race in modern history.
The BHA set up the 'Axe the Racing Tax' campaign in response to proposals to replace the existing three-tax structure of online gambling duties with a single tax, with fears the current 15 per cent duty on racing could be increased to the 21 per cent levied on games of chance.
Brant Dunshea, chief executive at the British Horseracing Authority, said: "We have decided to take the unprecedented decision to cancel our planned racing fixtures on September 10 to highlight to Government the serious consequences of the Treasury's tax proposals which threaten the very future of our sport.
"British racing is already in a precarious financial position and research has shown that a tax rise on racing could be catastrophic for the sport and the thousands of jobs that rely on it in towns and communities across the country.
"This is the first time that British racing has chosen not to race due to Government proposals. We haven't taken this decision lightly but in doing so we are urging the Government to rethink this tax proposal to protect the future of our sport which is a cherished part of Britain's heritage and culture.
"Our message to Government is clear: axe the racing tax and back British racing."
The four tracks involved are operated by the Jockey Club and the Arena Racing Company, with both backing the move.
Jim Mullen, CEO at the Jockey Club, said: "We hope this pause for reflection will enable the Government to truly understand the economic impact of horseracing and its cultural significance to communities across the UK, as well as the world-class racing festivals we host.
"After this period of reflection, we hope the full implications will be understood, and we can prevent the irreparable damage that threatens a sport the nation is, and should be, proud of."
Martin Cruddace, CEO at ARC, added: "We have always been taxed and regulated differently, and it is imperative for our future that we continue to be so.
"If the Government wants Britain to be a world leader in online casino and a world pauper in a sport at the heart of its culture, then tax harmonisation will achieve that aim."
While the four meetings will be rescheduled, Paul Johnson, chief executive of the National Trainers Federation, underlined the "sacrifice" in calling a halt to the sport for a day.
He said: "Cancelling fixtures is a huge sacrifice by racing and should serve as a stark reminder to the Government of the impact its tax raid will have on our sport.
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When she died she 'was about to earn her own living, [and] had expressed her intention of repaying her father the cost of her education', said her father. In 1921 it was still something new for daughters of upstanding members of society to attend university, and even more unusual for them to desire to work outside the home. TCD first admitted female students in January 1904, when three women were accepted into the college. By the time Wright studied there in the early 1920s, women made up about 15 per cent of the student population. Female students were subjected to strict rules meant to enforce the separation of men and women in all aspects of student life, apart from lectures and exams. Women were denied campus accommodation. At the time of her death Wright lived in Trinity Halls, Milltown, which was housing built for female students four kilometres from the city centre. Rev Wright told an English newspaper that four or five generations of his family had studied in TCD. However, it is very likely that his daughter was the first women in her family to do so. It is also possible that Wright faced pushback within her family for enrolling in university. Her uncle was Sir Almroth Edward Wright, a well-known bacteriologist. Eight years before her death he had published an uncompromising argument against giving women the vote. In The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage, Sir Almroth claimed women had innate 'intellectual defects' that meant they could never equal men intellectually. He also railed against the notion that 'women shall be included in ... every masculine foundation, university, school of learning, academy, trade union, professional corporation ... until we shall have everywhere one vast cock-and-hen show'. There was more: 'The proposal to bring man and woman together everywhere into extremely intimate relationships raises very grave questions.' 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Rev Wright had planned to travel to Ireland to bring her body to London for burial but 'was advised not to make the journey' due to his emotional state. Three years later, he expressed willingness to go Dublin or the hearing of this compensation claim if it was 'absolutely necessary'. But in view of 'the painful circumstances connected with it he trusts that it can be dealt with effectively in his absence'. Rev Wright died suddenly 11 months after sending that letter. Ó Conchubhair went on to have a successful military career. On his retirement he became the governor of Limerick Prison and was awarded a pension for his service. In 1950 he recounted his experiences of fighting in the War of Independence, describing the decade after he joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 as 'the liveliest and best time of my life – so far'. He died of heart failure in 1953 and received a military funeral. Today you can read his entry in the National Dictionary of Irish Biography, though you will not find mention of Wright in it. There is no plaque, no memorial. In fact there is nothing at all to commemorate Wright on the TCD campus. There is, however, a plaque for Private Arthur Charles Smith, a British soldier killed during the 1916 Easter Rising, whose body was initially buried in the college campus before being moved to Grangegorman. His plaque is on Trinity's boundary wall, facing the cricket pitch where Kathleen Alexanderson Wright was shot.
