The chairman of the Asian Racing Federation says disunity within the horse racing industry is damaging the sport, citing interstate conflict in Australia, uncoordinated efforts in the UK and resistance in the US to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority as examples.

In his speech at the opening session of the 40th Asian Racing Conference in Sapporo, Japan, ARF boss Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said racing was at a “critical turning point” with challenges on many fronts.

“We have to think globally, especially when it comes to creating the conditions necessary to maintain our social acceptance,” he said, referring to the public’s willingness to accept horse racing as a legitimate form of sport. “It is a challenge how we as an industry are perceived by a larger group – by the people who are not involved in racing.”

Engelbrecht-Bresges, also CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and chairman of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities, said horse racing had demonstrated its resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the sport must weather what amounts to a “long COVID pandemic” – forces such as inflation, high interest rates, the expansion of other forms of gambling and changes in consumer behavior. The ARC provides an ideal forum to address these and other issues, he said.

“In certain areas we need structural changes,” said Engelbrecht-Bresges. “I would like to give you examples. If we look at Racing Australia, we have a very federal structure and a very federal funding model. So this is actually competition between the different states.”

He said that while he understood that competition could be a good thing in some cases, in Australia’s case it was not a good thing because the separate betting pools that result from competition dilute the pari-mutuel market and push players into fixed-odds betting, which reduces revenue for the industry.

“We shouldn’t fight each other,” he said. “We should really focus and come together as an industry and fight our competition.”

Although neither Great Britain nor the USA are members of the Asian Racing Federation, Engelbrecht-Bresges spoke of divisions within the sport in these countries as well. He criticised the financing model in Great Britain.

Britain, he said, “is probably the most affected by the fragmentation of the industry. For our colleagues at the (British Horseracing Authority), I won’t call it ‘Mission Impossible’. But it’s very close. And not even Tom Cruise can help them.”

“It’s probably one of the best racing products in the world. But when you look at the return to the owners, it’s low. When you look at the return to the racetracks to invest in the future, to invest in technology, there’s not enough revenue coming back into the industry to solve that problem.”

Engelbrecht-Bresges then addressed the legal challenges HISA faces in the U.S. Various rulings from the appeals courts have apparently been forwarded to the U.S. Supreme Court for final adjudication. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission, HISA oversees safety, drug and anti-doping efforts in most of the country’s racing jurisdictions, but faces numerous legal challenges from equestrian associations and states who argue it is unconstitutional.

“The creation of HISA was a huge achievement. It is actually the first federal organization to ensure the integrity of the sport. When you look at the results, all of these HISA interventions have resulted in a significant reduction in the number of horses that are down. And when you look at a core issue in the sport, which is reducing the number of horses that are down in a race, HISA has achieved that.

“But HISA is in danger of being derailed by the interests of certain fragmented industry participants who are taking this to court… This is very worrying. It was a great success that we celebrated at the last Asian Racing Conference, but now it is in jeopardy.”

Drew Fleming, President and CEO of Breeders’ Cup Limited, participated in the panel discussion and agreed with the assessment.

“I think it’s important to note his comments about the effectiveness of HISA,” Fleming said. “We’ve seen some transparent data from HISA showing that the number of horse injuries has gone down by about 38%. HISA is law first and foremost and is currently being enforced.”