British horseracing is facing a complex situation in 2026, having escaped the feared ‘racing tax’ it campaigned so heavily against in 2025 although still facing the prospect of impacts intertwined with the online betting tax.
This has not deterred the likes of Racing and Sports (RAS) from continuing to pursue prospects in UK racing- which despite difficulties in recent years remains its second most bet on sport.
RAS revealed today that it has secured a deal with Fairplay Exchange, a social betting platform founded in 2022. Although racing is one of Britain’s biggest sports, the company has been operating without a horseracing product for around a year.
The firm’s partnership with RAS centres on launching a new horseracing product, featuring runner insights, raceday data from global rightsholders, a fully managed trading service, which will provide pricing and risk management for the Fairplay Exchange.
Jack Kelliher, Commercial Director at Racing and Sports, said: “Fairplay were looking for a few key deliverables: ease of integration, control over their trading and pricing strategies, and comfort that their partner had the right tools to deliver double-digit GGR performance.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have been chosen, particularly given the strength of options available in the market. The Fairplay team were a pleasure to deal with throughout the process, and this is a partnership we’re incredibly proud of.
“We’re looking forward to rolling out more of our products with the team in the near future.”
International racing focus
The deal with Fairplay Exchange is RAS’ second in the UK, following a deal with Stakemate – which like Fairplay is also a social betting platform. The partnership was inked in August last year, and utilised data from Sports Information Services (SIS) and Racecourse Media Group (RMG).
As mentioned above, horseracing finds itself at a bit of a crossroads in the UK. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) organised a long-running campaign against tax increases last year, #AxeTheRacingTax, which on the face of things was successful – the government’s November budget did not put any taxes directly on racing.
However, the increase in Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) from 21% to 40% in April could have a knock on effect by reducing sponsorship budgets for example. Despite this, horseracing remains a valuable product for UK sportsbooks due to the huge following of events like the Grand National and Cheltenham. This value subsequently translates to the B2B space.
Stephen Cripse, CEO of Racing and Sports, said: “We are delighted to partner with Fairplay Exchange and to launch our first embedded racing solution into the UK regulated market.
“This partnership reflects Fairplay’s ambition to introduce racing through a scalable and rapidly deployable solution, while maintaining full control over trading and performance.”
As well as focusing on the UK, RAS has also been busy establishing a presence in Asia, specifically in Hong Kong. In October it announced that it had acquired six Hong Kong horse racing media outlets, forming the basis for its Racing and Sports Asia (RASA) division.
On the Fairplay Exchange deal, Cripse concluded: “By combining our world-leading pre-race data, official race day data from global rights holders, and our proprietary trading technology trusted by some of the world’s largest betting brands we are confident we can deliver a racing product built for both performance and longevity.
“We look forward to bringing our full risk management and trading capabilities to Fairplay and supporting strong commercial outcomes as the partnership develops.”