Following a period of intense heatwaves across Great Britain which has seen temperatures soar into the high thirties in southern parts, numerous horse racing meetings have been cancelled as a result, with some courses being in areas that fall into red zones as designated by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).
Any course where the temperature crosses the threshold of the red zone, results in an automatic abandonment of race fixtures for the safety of the horses and everyone else involved.
Wednesday’s meetings at Kempton Park, Salisbury, Worcester & Ffos Las have been abandoned due to extreme heat concerns 🌡️⚠️
The decision prioritises the safety and welfare of horses, jockeys, trainers and racing staff 🐴#HorseRacing #RacingNews…
— Racebuzz (@Racebuzzlive) June 23, 2026
Because of these red zones, it has also meant that horses cannot be moved through a red zone even if the course they are racing at isn’t one, which has caused considerable logistical havoc on the British horse racing calendar this week.
Meetings at Worcester (National Hunt), Kempton, Salisbury and Ffos Las have all been cancelled so far with more expected to follow.
The Financial Hit: Media Rights And The Betting Levy
When a horseracing meeting is cancelled, this causes significant financial distress to the industry, with three core income streams often taking a hit; ticket sales and venue hospitality, media rights and the horseracing levy.
The horseracing levy essentially describes that the bookmakers agree to contribute 10 percent of their gross profits back into the horseracing industry every year, with this being distributed to help fund prize money, veterinary science and the integrity of the industry as a whole. This roughly generates £110 million each year, with this coming from punter’s losses, meaning that cancelled fixtures have a greater chance of potentially reducing that figure.
While many individual racecourses usually lose six figures per meeting when factoring in tickets and potential food and beverage takings, the industry from a betting standpoint can be looking at a high five figure cost in lost Levy yield and direct turnover contributions. There is of course, a notable hit to bookmaker media rights payments with courses relying on these to help build prize purses.
The timing of this could not come at a worse time, when the underlying betting turnover per race has been dropping already (notably down almost 8 percent year-on-year recently), and this means the industry cannot afford to lose complete betting cards because of the weather.
Climate Adaptation: How Global Competitors Handle the Heat
Should heatwaves become the norm instead of anomalies, the UK racing industry may need to move from crisis response to permanent adaptation; or at least something in between. As a result, they may turn their attention to what they are doing in far flung places that endures high temperatures all year round and has done for decades.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), racecourses in states such as Dubai have adapted tier calendar, almost entirely to run under floodlights when it is cooler on an evening, while the core racing season is strictly in the winter months (November to March). In summer, the racing stops completely. There are also extensive air-conditioned stabling facilities and big misting fans so horses can cool off.
How Does The UK Respond?
This is certainly an interesting question and it is positive and encouraging that the UK industry is already using the methodology from these. In particular, the BHA has already been aggressively moving race times forward, while scheduling morning cards to make sure the day’s racing.
It is understood are many racecourses have already started heavily investing in things like extra misting fans, water infrastructure and drafting in considerable cooling teams to staff the enclosures used for unsaddling.
We will also likely see upgrades to transport, such as to horseboxes with high-powered internal fan systems, in addition to strict hydration regimes utilising heavy doses of electrolytes.