Wilf Walsh Resigns as Racecourse Association Chair With Racing's Funding Fights Unresolved

The former Coral managing director will leave the racecourses' trade body on 31 December, ten days after it replaced him on the British Horseracing Authority board. No reason was given and no successor named, six days before a Budget that could raise machine games duty.

• Wilf Walsh has resigned as Chair of the Racecourse Association (RCA) and will leave on 31 December 2026, during his second term, the RCA said on 22 October
• The statement gives no reason and says nothing about a successor or how one will be chosen
• On 12 October the RCA replaced him with Sir Philip Davies, on an interim basis, as one of its two directors on the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) board
• Walsh, a former Coral managing director, has spoken for racecourses against affordability checks, which the Gambling Commission is still implementing
• He leaves with the levy rate unchanged, bookmaker sponsorship falling and a machine games duty rise reported for the 28 October Budget

Racecourses' Chair Goes With No Reason Given

Walsh's resignation as Chair of the RCA, the trade body for Britain's racecourses, was announced in a three-sentence statement on 22 October. He joined in October 2021. The RCA Board and Executive thanked him for his "expert leadership" and wished him well "both within British Racing and his other sporting interests". It does not say why he is leaving or mention a successor, an interim chair or a recruitment process.

On 12 October the RCA appointed Sir Philip Davies, the former Shipley MP, as its Member Nominated Director on the BHA board on an interim basis, replacing Walsh, who had held the seat since October 2021. BHA chair Simon Cox thanked Walsh "for his significant contribution to the Board over the past five years".

Walsh came to racing from bookmaking. The RCA's 2021 appointment notice cites "a very successful period" as managing director of Coral and a non-executive directorship of Gala Coral Group. He then ran Carpetright for seven years from 2014 before chairing its parent, Nestware, according to Retail Week. He has chaired Cricket Scotland since 2023 and became chairman of Exeter City Football Club this year, according to the club.

The Funding Fights He Leaves Open

In 2022 he named raising income through the levy, media rights and sponsorship among the sport's priorities, the Racing Post reported. The heaviest fight since is affordability. In May, Walsh said "the financial damage inflicted on British horseracing by affordability checks has already been felt" and asked the government to "pause the pilot programme", the Racing Post reported. On 20 October the Gambling Commission's acting chief executive, Sarah Gardner, said it cannot be distracted from implementing financial risk assessments.

On 25 March the government kept the levy at 10% and declined to extend it to bets on overseas racing, citing "stability and certainty" after recent tax changes. Bookmaker race sponsorship fell 17% this year, by a Racing Post count, and The Times reports a machine games duty rise from 20% to 25% in the 28 October Budget; Regulus Partners has estimated a doubling would cost racing £92 million a year. Third-quarter attendance fell 3.7% to 1,618,031, the RCA said.

The Timing Leaves Racecourses Without a Settled Voice

Racing's funding arguments are, in the end, about what bookmakers pay the sport, and a former Coral managing director brought that side's experience to the racecourses' table. Within ten days he has left the BHA board and announced his exit from the chair, so racecourses go into the Budget with an interim BHA director and a departing chair, as the Commission prepares the consultation response Gardner said is planned for this autumn.

The resignation changes no policy. Who the RCA picks next, and how quickly, will decide who speaks for racecourses when the checks and the levy are next argued.