The Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board are investigating ways to get younger people to participate in horse betting as the board’s coffers continue to dwindle.

The board’s CEO, Primo Abrahams, revealed in the 2021/2022 annual report that horse betting as a sport had been struggling. The board has also been criticised by opposition parties in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for its dependency on state funds.

“Horse racing as a sport has been struggling, both financially and in terms of attracting interest in the sport for betting purposes,” Abrahams said.

He said the board had noticed a substantial decline in betting taxes for this contingency over the past few years, both in terms of tote betting (open bets) and fixed odds betting.