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With ‘Racing’ (in the form of the BHA) having perhaps unwisely publicly nailed its colours to the mast of the SIP franchise there have been some fairly tetchy early exchanges between the interested parties since the announcement that the government had weighed in with Fred Done’s bid.
The BHA, the RCA and the Horsemen’s group had all favoured the SIP group’s bid which is disappointing in that they either a) didn’t have the clout/nous to convince the government that the SIP was the better one or b) they were mistaken about which was the better bid and the govt know better.
Anyway, racing needs to get on with Fred now but that might be no easy task –
Racing “Our support for the SIP bid has been well documented and naturally today’s announcement was not our preferred outcome, but we will now work with Betfred and the Government to <i>ensure their commitments are delivered upon, both in relation to the Tote and other areas of industry reform.”</i> Italics mine.
Betfred – “we need to work closely with the <i>losers</i>” – quote in Sunday newspaper – again my italics
Hardly the rhetoric of an encouraging union.
One side doesn’t trust the other to do what it has said it will, the other sees its protagonists as a bunch of losers.
Fred should know all about bunches of losers, he’s just bought one of the biggest.
Obviously, Totesport will get rolled into the BF operation, what he needs to do is make Totepool’s an attractive betting proposition.
As I’ve said, there are alot of false tears being shed about this from people who rarely use the Tote, and they don’t use it because the whole operation is out of touch & the weakest available betting choice.
Fred knows how to make a few quid, maybe he’ll make the Tote an attractive proposition to punters. Probably won’t though!
I have never bet on the Tote when attending race meetings, mainly because the odds you get are a fait accompli.I love going down the lines of bookies & seeing if I can get a better price before it goes off the board. Fred needs to make it sufficiently enticing for folks like me, how I don’t know. Friends we have taken racing for the first time though prefer the Tote as they find the bookies daunting.
I suspect Fred was just using ‘The Losers’ as a general moniker for the mob that run racing, much as I refer to them as ‘The Rabble’ and that it’s simply a journalistic slip in not capitalising it.
I’d expect it’s fairly common parlance for them to be referred to as such, given their propensity for never being on the winning side and never getting it right, and doesn’t carry any specific connotations about the recent tote bid.
Has Paul Roy resigned yet?
Glen , we live in hope …..but these salary takers , just cling on for dear life , its a shame , Baldy Fred bought the tote for 265 million , and why , just why , could the racing lobby not buy it for 350 million and have its future secured permanently
Heaven knows they have enough contacts in the world of business to help them borrow if needed
My guess is they were just too incompetent, too busy infighting , and just too meek to take it on
A total and utter failure , the entire board should be clearing their desks ….all failures in my opinion
Ricky
According to the Racing Post today it seems we should all be careful of the Betfred/Tote duo. They have refused to pay out on a seemingly quality bet organised by Barney Curley ,hiding behind an agency based in Gib.Although the BHA ruled that no rules of racing were broken in the bet. I don`t like the sound of that
That’s why Fred Done could afford to buy the tote as he doesn’t have to honour bets anymore now that this precedence has been set.
Betfred have kindly agreed to take questions directly from TRF members to address any queries that our members may have over Betfred’s future plans for the Tote.
So, if you have concerns or queries, now is your opportunity to put your questions to Betfred.
Post the questions via the link below and we’ll send to Betfred next Sunday when we’ve collected and collated.
great stuff Corm , any chance we could sneak in a small wee question about the Curley unpaid bets …..or is this a bit raw for our future brother in arms(sick bucket please )
as always a great forum and very innovative stuff
Ricky
2 post deleted already. if Betfred had any sense they would clean up their PR before expecting punters to give them feedback on their new venture.
Gearoid – 2 post deleted?
If anything on TRF has been deleted it’s us and not Betfred that will have deleted it. Questions to Betfred will only be sent to them if they are a)not ridiculous and b)not abusive (they’ll be deleted in both cases).
I think it’s fair play to them for agreeing to come on and take questions so let’s be sensible, eh.
Ricky – I cannot take credit for this innovation. It was a long-standing and respected TRF member who made the (very good) suggestion.
I think it’s fair play to them for agreeing to come on and take questions so let’s be sensible, eh.
Fair play to them for taking questions that are censored by a forum who is happy to be in bed with a bookmaker who does not honour bets.
We’re not ‘in bed’ with
any
bookmakers Gearoid, although one of the girls on the boards on row 2 at Epsom Saturday need only lift the phone.
We won’t be deleting anything (and I haven’t deleted anything yet so I’m puzzled by your assertion) but will delete anything abusive.
I think it’s great that Betfred have agreed to take questions from TRF members on the Tote’s future. Fair play to them, as I said earlier.
I think it’s fair play to them for agreeing to come on and take questions so let’s be sensible, eh.
Fair play to them for taking questions that are censored by a forum who is happy to be in bed with a bookmaker who does not honour bets.
I think this guy is just trying to stir trouble!
The trouble with people like this is if you happen to agree with a bookmaker on a particular point, or in the case of Cormack trying to give them a fair chance then you’ve got to be in their pockets.They see conspiracy everywhere.
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