Australian Horse Racing: The saviour of the betting industry during COVID-19

While sport around the world came to a standstill during the coronavirus outbreak, one – more than any other – has stood up to COVID-19 and carried on about its business to a large extent. That sport? Australian horse racing.

Yes, the Belarussian Premier League and Nicaraguan Premier League have provided some football to watch, while darts players have competed against one another from their own living rooms. But it has been Australian racing that has continued to provide the elite quality that the betting industry thrives on.

While Australia was quick to bring down other national sports with AFL (Australian Rules) and NRL (Rugby League) due to state borders being closed within the country, Australian horse racing remained ongoing.

Yes, there was some changes in terms of social distancing of jockeys and no crowds at normally jam-packed events like the Golden Slipper and The Championships. But otherwise, the show carried on as if there wasn’t a global pandemic sweeping through the world.

Even HM Queen was impressed, telling Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison so during a phone call. Morrison posted on his Instagram page: “[It] was very kind to receive Her Majesty’s call this evening to check in and see how we’re all getting on in Australia.

“The Queen was very interested to hear about our progress in combatting COVID-19 and was so pleased we have managed to prevent the terrible impacts. Our recovery from the bushfires was also a key area of interest for her as well as the ongoing drought.

“Her Majesty was also pleased to hear our horse races were still running in Australia and sent her very best wishes to all Australians.”

There had been some scares, not least when racing was briefly halted after jockey Mark Zahra underwent tests which ultimately came back negative, but racing was not to be halted too easily – unlike in Britain and Ireland, South Africa, France and parts of the United States, countries where the sport of kings has been postponed for a lengthy period.

In a time when the betting industry has turned to eSports, table tennis, the few football leagues still playing, the darts tour from home and many other obscure sports many never knew previously existed, Australian racing has been something of a saviour.

The fact Australian racing is regionalised in the first place helped. Racing Victoria, Racing New South Wales, Racing Queensland and governing bodies from other states have kept the show on the road in their own areas as best they could in the circumstances.

It is estimated that horse racing betting totals around $14.3 billion (AUD) every year in Australia. Throw in the money overseas bookmakers take, particularly the increase during a time of shutdown in the industry elsewhere, and the impact any cancellation of Australian horse racing could have had is staggering.

The loss of football and Euro 2020 was a big one for bookmakers. The absence of racing in the UK and other jurisdictions for a sustained period was also huge, particularly the abandonment of the Grand National at Aintree. But the loss of Australian racing could have an equally large impact. The fact it has continued has been most welcome for betting companies worldwide, not just in Australia.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes