“RIGHT SAID FRED”

The Triple Crown is the Holy Grail of the sport and hasn’t been won for more than seventy years. That should make it more desirable, not less so. The harder that something is to achieve, the more noteworthy the attainment. A lucrative bonus for doing so is both justifiable and desirable; though one would imagine it could have been much larger with the determined co-operation of sponsor, BHA and insurer.

Fred Done has pledged his commitment to racing, in the way that many bookmakers sponsoring high profile races often do; but we are not demanding enough for their insistence on our sport and their business providing a united front.

“IF WE REMOVE THE HANDLES”

Every bookmaker now runs internet casino games and they all ply customers with offers attempting to encourage them to participate. It does not matter that a client may have a history of staking only on horseracing, they will still receive offers of “free spins,” or deposit bonuses. Usually about five minutes after an email assuring them of the firm’s diligent regard for “responsible gambling.”

On the high street, nearly every bookmaker has multiple fruit machines, often supplied with a comfortable stool and a half-screen to encourage gamblers to settle down for a session. I visited a Coral shop to watch a race and there were a bank of twelve televisions. Only one was screening live racing and it was sandwiched between two showing the same virtual race. Others were showing virtual motor racing, a numbers draw, greyhound results, two had live TV programmes. Four had a range of betting opportunities available; these screens were quartered and of the sixteen advertised betting markets, two were for horse racing. That is clearly a parasitic, rather than a symbiotic relationship.

We need to work with bookmakers and I do believe that we should promote the races that the general public find most absorbing, but we should not allow bookmakers to enlist our help in resisting government pressure without insisting on a reciprocal commitment. Problem gambling is a blight on society. It is far more likely to afflict those who pursue the instant gratification of a spinning wheel, or a numbers’ draw than someone who invests time and engages with the puzzle that horseracing provides. It should be a requirement for all firms to display in large print how much they are prepared to lay a single win bet for at the entrance to the shop and also the average percentage returned to the gambler for each betting medium. Betting companies should not be allowed to send unsolicited advertising for betting mediums that any customer has not previously used. That is how the government should interfere in the gambling business. We should not want to be bracketed inextricably with gambling and if the big internet betting sites want to convince us of their interest in our welfare, they should start interrupting internet casino sessions every minute with messages such as: “It is five minutes to the start of The Lincolnshire Handicap, or “The weights have been published for The Ebor, betting is now available.” That may sound ludicrous, but it is exactly how they assault the consciousness of the committed racing fan. Otherwise we will look back on the Government White Paper on Gambling and say:

“IT DID NO GOOD, WELL I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD”