THE LATEST statistics released by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) for the first six months of this year make for grim reading for those involved in the industry.

The figures reveal further contractions in Irish racing’s key performance indicators. With fixtures declining by 4 per cent and races by 5 per cent, average attendances have fallen by 14 per cent, while the total attendance is down 17 per cent from the start of the year.

There has been a similar fall in betting turnover, with the Tote down 17 per cent and on-course bookmakers down 22 per cent.

Trainers are seeing a decline in horse numbers, down 4 per cent, with individual runners down by 6 per cent and total runners down 8 per cent. Prize money fell by €3.9 million (14 per cent), while commercial sponsorship declined by 25 per cent.

While the average attendance has declined by 14 per cent and total attendance by 17 per cent to 498,308, there are still some positives to take out of a number of the key meetings.

Attendances at several major festivals held up well, with Easter at Fairyhouse up 7.5 per cent and at Cork up 14 per cent.

Over 95,000 racegoers attended the Punchestown Festival over the five days and, while corporate bookings were reduced by 15,000, the number of non-corporate attendees increased by 5,000.

Commenting on the figures, HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh said: “The first six months have, not surprisingly, proved to be very challenging, with Irish racing not immune from the effects of the economic slowdown. All our figures are down, but we must see them in context. Racing is coming from a very high bar, having achieved record figures in recent times.”