Nick Rust attempted to allay fears of a possible explosion in all-weather racing as he addressed an audience of racing folk at the Rowley Mile racecourse on Tuesday. Faced with undisguised dislike for the all-weather from this particular crowd, the British Horseracing Authority’s chief executive said he did not anticipate a significant increase in such fixtures in the coming years but added that the views of all racing’s stakeholders would have to be canvassed.
“It has played a very valuable part,” Rust said of all-weather racing. “I don’t believe Sir Mark Prescott’s view that 80% of racing will be all-weather in 50 years’ time but I could well be wrong. I don’t see a dramatic shift occurring within the next few years that you should be concerned about.
“The needs of racing and all of its constituents may change, so I don’t think it’s appropriate to say that we’ll fix a percentage now because we might find that, to suit one of our key participants – the betting side – we may need to run more evening racing at different times of the year and to do that, inevitably, we will need some capacity around all-weather.”
But Rust added that the issue was one “for our sport as a whole” and said there would be a debate among horsemen and racecourses over the coming months as to what the future of all-weather racing should be and whether it should be allowed to grow beyond its current 20% share of the fixture list. An increase in fixtures would seem inevitable if Newcastle is allowed to replace its turf Flat track with an all-weather circuit, a question still being kicked around by the BHA and to be answered in the next month.
Rust’s comments came on the third of his roadshow presentations, an innovation announced shortly after he joined the BHA early this year with the aim of making racing’s people better informed about their sport’s health. The mood of the Newmarket audience appeared unfavourable to all-weather expansion, with no voices raised in favour while one hoped the Newcastle decision would be debated “for a very long time”, while another suggested that no one ever made a deliberate attempt to breed an all-weather runner.
As in his previous speeches, Rust began by outlining a sport in rude health, offering £130m in prize money this year and with a core annual expenditure of more than £1bn, before scaring his audience with rather less positive figures. In five years, the number of horses in training has fallen by 7%, he said, while the number of standalone owners (as distinct from syndicates) was down 15%. Only 40% of trainers are currently able to derive any income from their business, he had been told by one industry insider.
If the negative trends continue, Rust expects a £120m shortfall in racing’s income within three years, though he then outlined a number of “growth opportunities” which could plug that gap. Racing still believes it is owed a better deal by bookmakers and Rust, previously a senior Ladbrokes staffer, pulled no punches on that subject.
While exonerating Betfair and Bet365, he said other bookmakers were “free-riding or partially free-riding”. “To be fair to all betting operators and to be fair to racing, they need to contribute. The estimates currently are that there’s £30m outside the net. Some digital companies like Betfair and Bet365 are competing whilst they’re still paying that. Others are free-riding and they need, in the right way, to be brought around the table and asked to contribute.
“At the same time, I need to calm their fears and say we’re going to work together on some of the initiatives that we’ve covered today, hopefully to build some trust and to bring some practical things in that can help start to create growth in betting on British horse racing.”
Rust said that his new “racing and betting forum” would meet next week to discuss, among other things, the proposed creation of a punters committee, which might meet once a month to advise the BHA of the needs and concerns of those who gamble on the sport. It is a ground-breaking venture as British racing has hitherto been remarkably cavalier about punters, showing next to no interest in their views.
Asked how much influence he imagined this group of punters might have on BHA policy, Rust replied: “Quite a bit, I think. Betting growth is vital. Not only does it generate direct income, it’s vital for helping to grow interest in racing.”
