The Galway Races are just two weeks away, and apparently tickets are selling well, with sales ahead of where they were at this time last year.

That’s good to see.

Galway is a bit of a barometer for the sport’s relationship with the public and you might have expected a coolness following the recent RTÉ Investigates programme, and negative comments on the sector from some public figures who never miss an opportunity to get a dig in.

Typically, the critics will voice concerns over welfare standards before suggesting a review of Government funding for racing.

Quite often the TD or media commentator will also compare the €76m racing receives from the public purse with much lower levels of funding given to football or boxing or rowing.

The politician knows this is a bogus comparison but it goes down well with their constituency. The newspaper columnist, letter writer or blogger possibly doesn’t know any better, so let’s get a few facts out there.

The Government considers horse racing to be an industry, not a sport – that’s because of all the employment, exports and foreign investment.

I won’t bore you with the numbers but it’s worth billions annually to Ireland.

The €76m Government grant is a drop in the ocean by comparison. It goes to Horse Racing Ireland and is basically used to run the 395 race meetings per year.

There are over 10,000 racehorses in training in Ireland. It costs around €20,000 per year to look after each one. That’s €2bn in investment before we even consider the purchase price of each horse.

Last year, the country exported €333m worth of horses but that only accounts for the ones sold at auction. Many, many more are sold privately.

Everyday bloodstock agents from around the world are watching Irish racing and putting in phone calls to try and buy horses who caught their eye.

Horse Racing Ireland puts about €40m into prize money and critics regularly object to the fact that it is rich people who win most of it, and it’s tax-free.

Yes, the people who own the best racehorses tend to be very wealthy, but I can guarantee you none of them are making a profit from prize money compared to what they are spending.

If there was money in it, we’d all be at it. It’s a form of entertainment.

Ironically, if you taxed prize money, the racehorse owners would be delighted. Because then they could write off their racing expenses against tax – and, believe me, the country would soon be flat broke if we allowed that.

One last point: racing doesn’t get any money from betting tax receipts. None, it never has.

Now if only we could claim tax relief on our betting losses. We could give the Galway Races a right go!