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Mr Struthers says the Deloitte report was very bad then. No, that was "racing’s" submission.
And as for Mr Dixon’s latest fine piece of "nonsense." Mr Dixon seems to cling to this idea that he and his members, who happen to be rich enough to buy racehorse/s to race in Britain, have the right to claim betting revenue from a product/s they don’t provide because images of a horse, however real or not, are enabling betting operators to make money.
Tbh, they way this lot are heading, I should start studying French form a bit closer and take an interest in German Harness racing.
Deloitte’s consistent mention of the word integrity was pretty impressive along with the following – "There is limited evidence to support the increase in integrity costs." Maybe they’ve taken a look at the handicapping system?
ok, sorry matt, never known Glenn insult anybody before and don’t know what you’re on about, I might have got the the wrong end of the stick. Sorry to Matt and Glenn, for poking my nose in, nothing to do with me.
Matthew, I don’t want to get involved in your personal battle with Glenn, but must you continue with your boring and petty messages? Call it quits and move on please
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Guy might be great at his job and a loss but he gotta go
Anyone think he didn’t know that when he did what he did?
Guys obviously a very intelligent man who did his sums and said stuff it, I reckon
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No wonder he has gone quiet, we at Clerkwatch have got used to this tactic used often by the BHA. Take this EMail sent to us by a punter asking about field sizes at Kempton
Here is a e mail from Kemptons clerk, sent to a poster when asking about 16 runner handicaps and the 14 runner"Safety" limit
Subject: RE: 16 runner handicap
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 08:59:18 +0100
From: Beverley.Frith@jockeyclubracecourses.com
To:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxOur safety factor is 16 – we generally have a maximum field size of 14 to protect the LBO money and its also a compromise between jockeys and racecourse as the jockeys are happier with a safety factor of 14.
Now, ask yourself this question, has the clerk there taken a unilateral decision to protect the field size of her own back in a one man(or woman) crusade without any prompting, or are they all under instruction??Consider the disinformation about proper distances, Inaccurate going reports and a general disdain of the customer by the sports rulers and you get some nasty taste.
Paul is , imo used, as a firewall, between us and the BHA, he is a racing fan without any doubt, ive met the guy and can confirm this, he is however guilty of bad manners in failing to even acknowledge e mails from us despite asking us, the customer to "Behave ourselves" in our discussions about clerks and GPT.Having no feedback from Paul or the BHA, We regret to say that we are in negotiations with other media outlets to make our voices heard
I was shaking my head in disbelief when I heard that Paul Roy’s company were buying shares in Betfair. It’s hard to defend the BHA, RFC etc when a chairman goes and does something like that. It just makes everyone think Roy etc are all in it for themselves!
As for Paul Dixon’s "fighting talk", which day do we think the owners will strike on?
A busy Saturday with top prize money available and the top owners & stables having their better horses running? Or a quiet midweek day where it’s the small owner that will be denied the chance of a win and some prize money helping to pay the expenses?
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As for Paul Dixon’s "fighting talk", which day do we think the owners will strike on?
A busy Saturday with top prize money available and the top owners & stables having their better horses running? Or a quiet midweek day where it’s the small owner that will be denied the chance of a win and some prize money helping to pay the expenses?
Excellent point.
I’m a paid up member of the ROA, but I haven’t been consulted about a strike and I certainly don’t support the idea.
If doing without racing for one day was going to have a serious impact on bookmakers, how did they survive the experience of Jan 6th, 2010, when all racing was called off due to heavy snow?
Whilst racing still puts on floodlit AW meetings for peanuts at the behest of the bookies, the sort of posturing indulged in by Dixon just looks plain stupid.
AP
Not the first strike Paul Dixon has called for either. Anyone remember this:
RECRIMINATIONS were still reverberating yesterday following the attempted boycott of Wolverhampton on Saturday, an action which has left owners, trainers and jockeys split over its merits.
Feelings were running high at the track as a total of 32 of the 74 declared runners did not face the starter in protest at the Levy Board’s prize-money cuts, which ended in fines totalling pounds 5,125 being imposed on 13 trainers.
Many at the track, including the racecourse management, resented the alleged intimidation reportedly suffered by some owners, trainers and riders to join the boycott, while several trainers criticised the decision to target Wolverhampton.
One trainer was apparently reduced to tears after being the subject of intimidation and another was understood to have been warned by an owner he would not receive any of his yearlings if saddling a runner. A third claimed an attempt was made to withdraw his horse without his knowledge.
It was also alleged that an apprentice cried off after being told he would not be employed by a prominent owner in his stable if he took outside rides.
A trainer who did not want to be identified, but was obviously upset by the experience, said: "I won’t come here again to run for this type of prize-money because of the pressure me and my jockey have been put under in the last 24 hours. It has been miserable."
As a result, one vociferous critic of the boycott, trainer Pat Murphy, said he intends resigning from the Racehorse Owners’ Association today.
"I shall be cancelling my ROA membership in the morning," Murphy said yesterday.
"I wasn’t rung by anyone not to run my horse but another owner rang me to say he was under pressure not to run. From what I was told numerous other people were put under pressure not to run. I think it was disgusting.
"If you don’t want to run in races for pounds 2,000 and pounds 3,000, then don’t enter your horses. Prize-money is an owner’s issue and not a trainer or jockey issue."
Racehorse Owners’ Association president Chris Deuters yesterday condemned the use of any intimidatory tactics, but asked owners to think about the consequences of not taking action.
He said: "I was not aware of that, but it’s certainly not my intention to pit owner against owner.
"Owners have to decide whether it’s more important to run now or think about the long term, as this is the sort of money we will be running for in the future. Accountants will have no reason to hike up the prize-money."
Leading owner Paul Dixon, who withdrew five runners, also refuted claims that pressure was exerted by owners on trainers and jockeys to boycott.
Dixon said: "It wasn’t just an owners’ action but also trainers and jockeys – look at all the senior jockeys who weren’t prepared to ride for that sort of money."
Dixon, who has 60 horses, was critical of some senior trainers who had publicly supported not running in races below the minimum values, yet still sent runners to Wolverhampton.
"Unless all factions stand together, courses will continue to put on meetings like this – it is all about supply and demand."
Jamie Osborne, who took out all nine of his runners, was fined pounds 2,250 because, having previously featured in a similar prize-money protest, the stewards decided each horse warranted a pounds 250 fine for a second offence.
Nick Littmoden, who withdrew his seven runners – five on the grounds of no suitable jockey available – was fined pounds 1,250.
Luke Fletcher was the only rider whose boycott-related absence cost him a winner, aboard the Peter Hiatt-trained Lazzaz.
After Robert Winston had stepped into the breach, Hiatt said: "Luke Fletcher won’t ride the horse next time after this. This is completely the wrong meeting to have tried to boycott.
"The majority of racegoers who come to Wolverhampton on a Saturday night just want to have a good time, they are not interested in the politics. My owner would have run for pounds 500."
John Balding, who sent out two runners, said: "If they really wanted to make a point, why didn’t the owners try to boycott the Ayr Gold Cup or Silver Cup. Everybody knows there is not much prize-money at Wolverhampton on a Saturday."
No prizes for guessing where the intimidatory action came from either.
Of no particular relevance to this thread, but out of interest does anyone know how Paul Dixon made his money?
Business, City, Inheritance?
Appearances can be deceptive but he looks quite young, 40ish
Deloitte report on the levy
http://www.hblb.org.uk/scheme50/Deloitte’s_Report_for_the_Government_Appointed_Members-Oct2010.pdf
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