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Lydia Hislop’s bleak picture of the industry in the Times this week
Spot on as usual Lydia. I’m totally knackered from all this racing. Looking forward to at least a reduction in evening meetings from the end of August.
I disagree. I thought the article was disappointing.
There’s nothing new there. It reads like Lydia is sitting round the kitchen table with cronies sipping tea, eating Jaffa cakes and bemoaning the weather. Most unsatisfactory work from such a respected racing figure.
While there is a problem, I admit, endlessly rehashing the same points, as Lydia does here, isn’t going to stir the masses from their Betfair interface.
We need solutions and a major article suggesting solutions. Fast.
The racing we are seeing at the minute, is without a doubt the biggest load of dross I can ever remember .. it’s an endless torrent of tripe and I think if something isn’t done soon, it’s going to be all over for us.
What was tonight’s meeting at Chepstow all about ??
Four maiden races, a seller and a class 6 hcp .. what is the point ?It seems to me that nobody really cares about about horse racing and when it’s got the same sort of interest as greyhounds the people who are running it just now won’t care a to$$.
Perhaps we could have a new word added to the dictionary .. savillesque .. meaning, someone who optimistcally tries to be reasonable with someone who is unreasonable. The big bookies ripped the pish out of him, I bet they all laughed like maniacs when he introduced bandit racing.
What the bookies want is fast turn over, a race every five minutes type action for the pathalogicals, if they can’t get it they’ll walk away. The government should ban FOTB’s from high street shops in return for allowing bookies to blatantly manipulate SP’s.
I never read the Hislop piece but I do agree that there is too much racing, however a race is a race and if you like a bet there is still a winner to be found whether it be a class race or a selling race, a 9/2 winner of a class race is just the same as a 9/2 winner of a seller. (unless ofcourse you are the owner, where you’d rather win the class race)
I personally enjoy all racing but concentrate more on the British game, American racing doesn’t do it for me.
speaking of Chepstow, I managed to find three winners (although a blind man could’ve found two of them), two seconds, a third and a 4th thus landing the placepot which paid £23.20, not a bad night for a poor meeting, so you see it doesn’t matter too much in the quality if betting is your bag.
Tonight we are back racing after a 2 week break and have 9 races all on fibresand..need I say more.
No turf meetings for at least 2 months…What was tonight’s meeting at Chepstow all about ??
Four maiden races, a seller and a class 6 hcp .. what is the point ?Chepstow have said before they are quite happy to put on the lowest possible quality racing and prize money as they still get the crowds for the evening meetings. Folkestone was no better.
" Racing’s Bleak Future "
You know what, i’ve been hearing about ‘racing’s bleak future’ for 25 years, ever since I was a kid! And that was because my local track, Stockton, was closed down in 1981.
How many rececourses have been closed since Stockton? Ask yourself that!
I could write 1000’s of words on here about ‘racing’s bleak future’ being the biggest load of crap i’ve ever heard.
Racing today is bigger and better than it ever was and you can’t argue with that. There are more races screened on TV than ever before, Sunday racing has been a big success in the main, racecourses are appearing not vanishing. challengers from all over the world attend our big meetings, re-vamps or refurbishments are happening up and down the country, families are attending.
I admit, there are a lot of low grade racing and prize money could be better. Some tracks have very low attendances also – but believe me, this has been happening for the last 25 years also – the arguement of too much racing, low prize money, poor quality racing etc has been around for decades – yet racing in the UK is bigger and better than it ever was in my opinion.
"The future’s bright, the future’s RACING"
Mike
It is true that much of the racing we are presented with is very moderate, but we can always choose which races to focus upon.
At this time of year it is almost impossible for anyone(even the professionals) to absorb everything that is happening and to assimilate all the results and form lines. So, best not try – just concentrate on your own angle or particular type or class of race.
Bookmakers are always looking to maximise profits by increasing the rate of turnover and reducing the proportion of that turnover returned to punters.We can’t blame them for being so rational, can we?
Some punters enjoy the endless stream of betting opportunities. If stakes are kept under control in terms of what they can afford, they are entitled to their entertainment. More discerning backers will be selective, choosing when to bet, ignoring the rest of the racing. Both can be satisfied.
My point is that we have the choice. Thirty years ago there was not the same range of betting opportunities. Studying form was probably easier back then, although we didn’t have some of the tools we have now.
Overall, from a punting point of view, things are probably better than they were in the 1970s, although recent tightening of SP margins is quite worrying.
The racing we are seeing at the minute, is without a doubt the biggest load of dross I can ever remember .. it’s an endless torrent of tripe
The racing ‘twixt Goodwood and York has long been silly-season crap but has naturally become crappier, in line with the Flat fixture list as a whole.
As usual a well wrought piece from Miss Hislop though all the points made have been aired ad nauseam on racing message boards.
Power to the people
There is nothing new in Lydias article although I agree with it wholeheartedly.
It is my opinion that racing needs to stand up and be counted sooner rather than later and if you like call the bluff of the bookmakers, as I do think that the bookmaking industries increasing attitude that they don’t really need horseracing anymore is very wrong.
Go into any High st Bookmakers on an afternoon and the reason that 90% of the people are there is for horseracing, Sure they spend a lot of money on the FOBTs but that is just a bye product, and if the horseracing wasn’t there then they wouldn’t be in the shop to use them.
Ladbrokes and William Hill etc aren’t stupid and I think they know how important the horse racing product is to them, but its obviously not in there interest to publicise this.
Some, of you might be interested in the following article:-
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2147483,00.html
It seems, one in five bets struck is on "virtual horses" now.
Regards – Matron
I love it – "Punters saw it [virtual horse-racing] as being "less crooked" then regular greyhound racing" – that’s just brilliant.
Racing is currently facing a bleak future.
There are far too many poor horses in training and by the very nature they can only ever to hope to provide moderate racing.Racecourse executives know the way to get crowds in and that is to promote family days or to line up some tribute band to knock out 20 songs to send the crowds home happy and often well worse for drink!
Bookmakers (off course) concentrate with virtual racing and of course the cash cow which of course are the FOBT machines.
David Ashforth yesterday provided some very interesting figures concerning these FOBT machines.
According to David William Hills have currently 8,357 FOBT machines and on average they each contribute £493.00 a week.
My calculator comes up with the princely sum of £4,120,000.per week.
Mr Ashforth informs us that Hills calculate that on line casino and poker accounts for around more than half of the total gross win.When the new gambling laws come into force next month he estimates Ladbrokes will have 8,155 gaming machines that will offer a max payout of £500.00. Ladbrokes accounts show each FOBT machine makes a gross win of £651 a week. (Up by a massive 19% in a year).
Even betfair offer punters the chance to guess which next playing card will be higher or lower than the last but they must have encountered members with problems playing games such as these as they offer a facility in which members can allow betfair to block themselves from playing games such as these for 6 months after that time they have to write in with a request to remove the block.
I suppose this gives them a chance to earn back what they have lost.If someone has £50 a week to lose gambling and they lose it either on betfair games or chasing some magic jackpot on the FOBT machines that is money that in the past may have gone on horses and at the end of the day some of that money would be passed towards racing.
This is the main danger horse racing is facing.Recent events when jockeys have been convicted of not attempting to win has also caused some to bet on other events.Racing has made massive inroads to correct this damage but many must still think that corruption still exists.
If I were on the board of a company such as William Hills there is no way one could argue to promote horse racing whist currently the accounts show other forms of gambling provide enough profits without the need to pay out extra for live racing when half the customers are piling money into FOBT machines whether Royal Ascot is on or Portman Park as they could not care less.
Someone I know who works for William Hill told me two weeks ago on a wednesday afternoon he took £3,200 from the FOBT machines yet £620 from greyhound and horse racing. He also told me the number 1 proirity is that the FOBT machines are working properly and cleaned every day!
Betterbet which has recently opened in Brighton banned a well known greyhound punter for having the nerve to win £2,600 but they would welcome with open arms someone who had won the same sum from FOBT machines as they know that if he kept paying them eventually the fixed odds nature the FOBTS have he would definately end up losing
I
If someone has £50 a week to lose gambling and they lose it either on betfair games or chasing some magic jackpot on the FOBT machines that is money that in the past may have gone on horses and at the end of the day some of that money would be passed towards racing.
This is the main danger horse racing is facing... I entirely agree. I work in a big factory and that’s how most of the lads look at their gambling. Everyone expects to lose but it’s the amount of enjoyment people can get out of their money along the way that’s important.
It was said on here years ago (by me) that the bandit race meetings would all end in tears and it duely did. But how much damage did that do to people’s perceptions of AW racing generally. I know a lot of folk who simply won’t bet on the AW anymore.
There’s a mistake in the Guardian article btw, virtual racing isn’t known as ‘the plastic ponies’ by punters, it’s ‘cartoon racing’.
I think the corruption point is significant. The average betting shop punter isnt going to bother trying to look at the issue in perspective whilst there are so many alternative mediums.
Dare i say the running of a near favourite as a pacemaker in a big race recently hardly did wonders for the image of the sport too.
Racing has a much poorer image amongst casual punters than amongst the more regular fans. And we know why
No turf meetings for at least 2 months…
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