Racehorse owner Rich Ricci has said he could not have any done any better in handling the situation which saw customers of his former company BetBright notified all their Cheltenham bets would be voided.
The former Barclays banker sold the betting site to online rival 888 for £15million last week, with customers notified last Tuesday that all unsettled single bets would be voided.
After pressure from customers, 888 announced that they would honour existing Cheltenham ante-post bets as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
Asked by ITV Sport if he could have done things differently, Ricci said: “No, what I think we did was the directors acted in the interests of all their shareholders and stakeholders, customers, creditors whatever.
“I refer you back to my comments in the Racing Post, that’s all I can say. The directors of the company, of which I am not one, however, I was supportive of the actions they took, they acted in the best interest of what they could.”
“It is unfortunate,” he continued. “Listen no one feels good about it, it is a difficult situation. It happens in business, people have lost their jobs, people have lost money. There was no profit gained by anyone else, it is just a difficult situation where we tried to do the best for everyone we could.
“We will see what happens, we did what we could and that is all I can say.
“I can’t say anything else, it is unique circumstances.”
Speaking to the Racing Post earlier this month, Ricci insisted that the actions taken were the fairest for all concerned.
A difficult week for Ricci continued when short-priced favourite Benie Des Dieux, a racehorse he owns, fell at the final flight when leading the Mares' Hurdle on day one at the Cheltenham Festival.
