Record turnover for Jockey Club

The Jockey Club, which runs 15 UK racecourses, has reported record profits for last year of £22 million, up 11% on the previous year.

Turnover also rose by the same percentage to a record £166.9 million.

The club, founded in 1750, is governed by Royal Charter, so it reinvests all profits back into its sport, but in May last year it sold £24.7 million of bonds to the retail markets, after setting out to raise £15 million, so the state of its ongoing finances will be of interest.

At 4.75%, investors devoured the offering, which was designed to raise money for the redevelopment of its flagship Cheltenham course, but the bonds are not protected by the savings safety net, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The organisation said last year's record results were helped by solid cost control across the business and growing revenues from admissions and hospitality income.

Bumper crowds at the Cheltenham, Grand National and Derby horseracing festivals in particular helped offset poor attendances at certain courses caused by bad weather, such as the loss of Cheltenham's important new year's day meet.

A total of 361 fixtures took place last year, attracting 1,740,000 race-goers, compared with the previous year, when 336 fixtures attracted 1,770,000.

"Racing plus music"

One of the main drivers for growth in recent years has been live music at racing events, but only six such events took place last year which held back the figures.

This year the club has forged a joint venture to increase its "racing plus music" line-up, with nine events planned including Sir Tom Jones, Jessie J, Kaiser Chiefs, James Blunt, The Beach Boys and Dizzee Rascal.

The healthy revenues have enabled the club to pump back a record £18.2 million in prize money and boost average prize money per fixture by £10,000 to £115,000.

Simon Bazalgette, chief executive, said the sport would benefit from further investment in fixtures that offered the best commercial returns.

He also mentioned the need for the betting industry to work closely with racing following long wrangles about how much betting operators should pay to the sport in annual levy contributions.

A number of companies have offered retail bonds in recent years, including Hotel Chocolat, John Lewis and Mr & Mrs Smith.