Key areas within the Irish racing industry enjoyed mixed fortunes last year following the release earlier this week of Horse Racing Ireland’s annual statistics for 2014.

The number of horses in training in Ireland fell by over 6% to 8,613 and the number of owners witnessed an almost identical drop to 3,706.

In the betting ring, turnover with on-course bookmakers witnessed only a marginal decrease as it went from €70.8m to €70.3m, although on-course layers are still having to contend with a challenging business environment.

On-course Tote betting remained static at €14.2m but total betting with the Tote for 2014 jumped by over 10%, coming in at €61.6m.

On the plus side, the average attendance of 3,705 at race meetings represented an increase of 4%.