Breeding & Racing Magazine

NSW Owners Highlight Contribution To Industry

The NSW Racehorse Owners Association released a statement emphasising "the contribution owners make to the industry & their importance in industry finances". NSWROA president Ray McDowell noted: "I would like to go on record & state some facts regarding owner contributions to the NSW Racing industry in the last year. The figures quoted have been validated by Racing NSW & leaving aside the enormous capital outlay owners spend in purchasing horses at the sales & breeding, owners spend some $200 million on training, vets, agistment, etc per year. The return to owners on this outlay is in the vicinity of $99 million per year (55%) which represents a 45% loss. Thus, contrary to other reports, owners are in fact subsidising the racing industry by $121 million per year. Whilst we understand the gambling dollar is an important part of the operation of our industry, it is not the only part making enormous contributions. It is worth remembering that without owners there would be no horses, therefore no trainers, no spelling farms, no vets, no employees, no racing organisations & bookmakers."