FRANKIE DETTORI fears the coronavirus crisis may already have dealt racing a massive financial blow.
The legendary jockey, heartbroken by the huge death toll in his native Italy, said: “The economy is going to go down and horse racing is a luxury people buy horses to have fun.”
All UK meetings have been suspended until at least the end of April.
Next month’s Grand National has been cancelled and June gala events —the Derby and Royal Ascot are in jeopardy.
Smaller racecourses are struggling to stay solvent and Dettori, 49, is worried the uncertainty could see many of the rich backers pull out.
He told BBC 5 Live: “It goes all the way down the food chain because obviously we’re not going to come out of this smelling of roses.
“So we might not have the investors any more, then we might lose sponsorship — it’s going to hurt every sport. We have to be ready for it.”
The British Horseracing Authority has already stood down the majority of its 260 employees. Remaining staff, including board members, are taking pay cuts in a bid to save the industry about £1million a month —a third of operating costs.
Many jockeys are self-employed, including Dettori, who works with Newmarket trainer John Gosden.
The three-time Champion Jockey, whose mum lives in Varese near Milan, an area hit hard by the virus, last week launched the GoFundMe page for the Italian Red Cross.
He added: “You picture coffins in a field and imagine how big that field would be. “It’s heartbreaking and seems endless. Every day we hope for something better but it doesn’t seem to be letting up. We are just praying day by day.”
