Over the years, the UK horse racing industry has grown exponentially. Recent figures reveal that it’s worth an estimated £3.7 billion to the economy and is the second-largest spectator sport after football. The Grand National alone reaches an audience of 600 million.
Known as ‘the sport of kings’ horse racing was historically the preserve of the nobility. Although still aspirational, the sport is changing, and in more recent times is attracting a different type of investor with more modest sums to invest.
In the past, owning racehorses was an expensive process and out of the reach of the majority of investors. However, in recent years a number of ways for investors to invest in the sport have developed, opening up the sport to investment.
Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) have been one of the main routes for investment into racehorses and breeding schemes. They allow investors to invest tax-efficiently, with a minimum of investment of £10,000.
EIS offers some impressive tax breaks: investors get income tax relief of 30% on the amount they invest, there’s no capital gains tax on any profits made, if investors make a loss they can offset the loss against income tax and there’s no inheritance tax to pay on shares bought through EIS.
Jamie Railton Bloodstock Investment offers EIS investors the chance to invest in a portfolio of quality bloodstock assets managed by its team of industry professionals. The firm buys 20-30 foals per year. The cost of the foals can range from £20,000 to £300,000. The average cost per foal bought in 2019 was £60,000.
The bloodstock specialist prides itself in higher than average returns. The average investment is £25,000, and investors are encouraged to invest across a number of foals in which they get a percentage. For more information about EIS and bloodstock investment, click here.