Jockeys stand together in Parliament Square

Hollie Doyle, Tom Marquand and champion jockey Oisin Murphy were among the riders who swapped the racecourse for Parliament Square on Wednesday, as racing descended on Westminster to demonstrate its opposition to proposed betting tax changes.

Fixtures scheduled for Carlisle, Uttoxeter, Lingfield and Kempton were cancelled in an unprecedented move aimed at highlighting the impact on racing’s finances that a rise from the current 15 per cent duty on racing to the 21 per cent levied on games of chance could have.

Economic analysis commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority has suggested the feared tax rise could cost racing at least £66million and put 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year, with BHA chair Lord Allen labelling it “nothing short of an existential threat for our sport”.

Alongside the record-breaking Doyle, Murphy and Marquand in London were Paul O'Brien, Saffie Osborne, Kieran Shoemark, Lilly Pinchin and former rider Richard Johnson, all clad in 'Axe The Racing Tax' silks provided by the British Horseracing Authority.

They posed for press photographs holding a banner bearing the same slogan, while a mobile LED billboard lapped the square followed by a horse statue also branded in the insignia.

Various broadcast crews gathered alongside the photographers, with the photo-call preceding an event at the Queen Elizabeth II centre where various leading industry figures were set to speak.