Brexit - A Worry For Horse Racing Whether you are on one side of the fence or the other, we can all agree that Brexit has so far been a disaster. From the political and social uncertainty that it has brought to the fact that diplomatic discussions are so far stalling, Brexit has the potential of affecting many industries. On top of all that, Brexit can create some unforeseen effects in areas that experts omitted to consider. More specifically, freedom of movement of footballers and horses could be at high risk in the case of a no-deal Brexit. In the case of football, a no-deal can pose a threat to Britain’s sporting success because smaller clubs could lose the opportunity to access fresh European talents. Ireland has been a traditional source of young talent for English and Scottish clubs. ‘’Currently, with EU freedom of movement of workers, any footballer who has an EU passport can come to the UK and work as a footballer freely’’ according to Ms. McCallum, pro-bono counsel for UEFA players. No-Deal Brexit Bad For Horseracing Industry Horse racing events, such as the Grand National, could suffer immensely. Next year’s Grand National could experience an absence of both Irish based jockeys and horses if the UK leaves the European Union without striking a deal. This is not mere speculation — the British Horseracing authority is worried about the potential effects that a no-deal Brexit can have over the industry, particularly if the European Commision rejects the current arrangements which accommodate streamlined processes for transporting horses. Horseracing is managed and regulated through a tripartite agreement between Britain, Ireland and France which supports the above-mentioned free movement of horses between these countries. This particular agreement was struck in the 1960s when the three countries (some of the biggest producers of thoroughbred horses in the world) realized the benefits of collaboration. After the EU was established into an organizational structure similar to the one in function today the agreement became enshrined in EU legislation. A no-deal Brexit could affect not only this highly-functional agreement, but may also have implications to the over-arching (and multi-million pound industry) Irish online gaming presence. Festivals such as Cheltenham would suffer greatly if the Irish element of the competition suddenly dried up and this could in-turn spell disaster for Irish bookmakers, particularly the high-street betting shops which are already under pressure. According to the BHA, there are around 26,000 movements of purebred horses each year between these three countries. If Britain fails to negotiate a deal between both the EU and the partnering countries, and if Britain were to set up strict borders, tariffs and restrictions on immigration, this could complicate the logistics of moving thoroughbreds between the countries. Long delays in processing the transport of horses between Ireland and Britain would be an issue for the sales and breeding of horses across the two jurisdictions but could spell disaster for racing. Aintree, Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, Punchestown, Irish Champions Weekend are just some of the high-profile events that not only benefit from the free-movement of horses but thrive because of it. According to the BBC, the end of the Tripartite Agreement system between the United Kingdom, France and Ireland would have a huge impact especially on Irish trainers and Irish Horses. Chronologically, a no-deal Brexit could have quite an impact on the Grand National, as it would occur only a week ahead of the race, which could pose a threat to Irish horses’ participation in the race and also on the Irish jockeys. If no arrangements are agreed for racehorses, these movements will require additional veterinary health checks and lots of bureaucracy and delays at ports. A no-deal Brexit, with all of these checks would not only put additional costs on the owners and trainers of the horses but could also impact on the health and welfare of the horses themselves. Authorities Looking for Solutions Due to the potential negative effects that a no-deal Brexit can bring, authorities are looking for solutions as of the writing of this article. The EU is currently drafting a new Animal Health Law 2021 and racing officials are lobbying them to include a new 'High Health Horse' category to cover thoroughbreds. This would basically continue the current Tripartite agreement and extend it to other EU countries but will not be in place in time for March 29th 2019 when Britain leaves the European Union.
