The prospect of a £60m hit to horse racing’s already struggling finances is conjured up by a template letter to MPs now being distributed within the sport, complaining about the potential impact of affordability checks on gamblers and calling on lawmakers to pressure the Gambling Commission into a rethink. The letter’s author is not known, but it was evidently drafted after agreement among the sport’s most senior power-brokers that some pushback was necessary.

The GC is consulting on possible changes to its regulations in the area and has extended the deadline for feedback until 9 February, having experienced “high engagement” since the consultation began in November. It has already indicated likely parameters for triggering an affordability check on a customer, saying that a monthly loss of £2,000 would be unrealistically high while £100 would probably be the “lowest possible threshold”.