Industry leaders gathers to discuss horse racing’s social licence challenges at 2024 Racing Foundation Conference 

3 Oct 2024

The Racing Foundation’s annual conference was attended by industry leaders with a landmark total of more than 300 delegates registered on Wednesday, October 2. 

A key funder of horse racing’s charitable initiatives, the Racing Foundation staged its seventh annual conference at Ascot Racecourse to build understanding and prompt collaboration around racing’s social licence challenges.

The event attracted a wide range of delegates from across the industry and the wider equestrian landscape, from the 47 Chief Executives, Managing Directors and Board Chairs to those starting out in their horse racing careers, whose tickets were funded by the Racing Foundation in a bid to engage the sport’s future leaders.

Bob Langert, the former Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at McDonald’s, TedTalk speaker and author, delivered the keynote address and hosted a discussion-based workshop.

No stranger to the challenges of social licence, Langert was tasked with addressing the issues that had taken McDonald’s from being recognised as the beloved ‘Golden Arches’ to a symbol of many societal problems, after the brand found itself embroiled in a series of contentious issues in the areas of animal welfare and environmental sustainability, often clashing with powerful NGOs such as Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

He passed on his experiences to a captivated audience and dispensed advice as to how horse racing can address social licence challenges of its own. 

Langert said: “During my time at McDonald’s, we faced many detractors in the form of activist campaigns, books and movies and media coverage on multiple issues. 

“We were accused of destroying the rainforest, creating the garbage crisis, abusing animals, serving junk food and making people obese.

“Honestly, it felt like I was going to battle each and every day! On reflection and having lived through the whole journey, it’s amazing the McDonald’s business is still growing and thriving today. 

“One central reason for McDonald’s not only surviving, but having continued success and growth, is that it took the importance of having public acceptance, protecting our brand and earning trust, very seriously.

“Horse racing faces similar challenges today in terms of public perception, specifically around whether the sport is safe, the treatment of its equine participants, and its place in society. 

“For the sport not just to survive, but thrive in the future it must accept and engage with those challenges, as McDonald’s did previously.”

Joining Langert on the agenda was Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale.

Ahead of the 2024 running of the Randox Grand National, the Jockey Club announced substantial updates to the historic race, including reducing the maximum number of runners and moving the first fence 60 yards closer to the start to slow the early stages of the race.

The changes, which were seen as an influential example of protecting the sport’s social licence by some stakeholders, were met with a mixed reaction in some quarters.

Addressing the delegates in the room, Truesdale said of the Grand National: “It is a race we should all be extremely proud of.

“It’s a race that is the main shop window of our sport and it’s a race that we need to preserve and protect.

“But it’s also a race for which we need to maintain its acceptability to society because it is one of racing’s, and indeed Britain’s, biggest sporting assets.

“It is our job to preserve it, look after it, evolve it and improve it.”

Youth engagement was a theme that ran along social licence on the agenda. INVADES founder Dom Matcham and a diverse youth panel discussed social licence among Gen Z and attracting the next generation of racegoers.

The importance of collaboration was highlighted throughout the conference, particularly during its industry-wide workshop and hearing the experiences of other equestrian disciplines during the World Horse Welfare panel on public acceptance of horse sports, led by chief executive Roly Owers.

Again for 2024, environmental sustainability was embedded throughout the event. Ascot Racecourse was selected for the venue’s sustainable credentials, a sustainably-sourced lunch was served to delegates, reusable conference materials were utilised and travel information was collected from delegates to provide an accurate carbon calculation of the event.

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Selected keynote talks will be available to watch in the coming weeks at https://www.racingfoundation.co.uk/conference/ 

Details of future Racing Foundation events can be found by signing up to the newsletter at https://www.racingfoundation.co.uk/news/