Don't take us back to 1970s: trainer's fears over tax threat

The Queen Elizabeth II Centre was presumably chosen as the venue for racing's Axe The Racing Tax event in London yesterday as it is just the briefest of canters from the seat of power in Westminster, but it felt like a nod of respect too towards the most famous fan that the sport in Britain is ever likely to have.

- Greg Wood

The late queen, after all, was never impressed when politics impinged on the serious business of the turf. Her quickfire delivery of the Queen's Speech in June 2017 when it clashed with day two of Royal Ascot is the stuff of parliamentary legend. It is said that her relationship with Theresa May, who seemingly scheduled the state opening of parliament without checking the diary, never really recovered.

So it was hard not to wonder too yesterday what she would have made of racing's self-imposed "strike", prompted by concerns the Treasury will raise the level of duty charged on online betting profits - 15% - to at least the 21% rate now levied on fixed-margin casino products.