“They are watching carefully while we are first out of the trench and taking all of the bullets,” Martin Cruddace, the chief executive of Arc, said of his fellow track execs after a trainers’ boycott reduced a seven-race card to five at Lingfield on Saturday. “We’ll be clearing the way for them to follow.”
He may well be right, but the bad news for Cruddace is that he will have no-one behind him when he goes over the top for some time yet. Lingfield races again this Saturday, when the only other Flat meeting is at Chelmsford, a track that has (so far) maintained its prize funds despite the imminent arrival of a £2 maximum bet on high-street FOBT machines.
Arc, on the other hand, said in December that it would be cutting nearly £3m from prize money in 2019. Cruddace insists that organised boycotts of lower-grade events will not prompt a change of heart – “if anything, I’m more adamant about it than I ever was,” he said – but having flexed their collective muscle last weekend, Flat trainers may well be inclined to do so again on Saturday.
The natural inclination here is to take sides and Arc – which, unlike Jockey Club Racecourses, its main rival, has shareholders demanding a dividend – looks like an obvious target. But if what we are witnessing is indeed the opening scene in the final act of the FOBT saga, it is hard to have much sympathy for any of them.
The racecourses were falling over themselves to sign “per shop” media rights deals with high-street bookies at the height of the FOBT boom. They knew very well that the £100-a-spin gaming machines which had effectively turned off-course bookies into mini-casinos were hugely controversial and attracting fierce criticism from politicians on all sides. Ukip, as it happens, was the first party to commit to a reduction to a £2 maximum, in their 2015 manifesto, and both Labour and the Liberal Democrats followed suit in 2017, though it was the Tories’ Matthew Hancock – the MP for Newmarket, no less – who finally addressed the “social blight” last year. But the tracks turned a blind eye to all that and carried on pocketing their share of the profits from FOBT roulette, money that racing had neither earned nor deserved.
Trainers and owners, meanwhile, were more than happy to race for their own share of the spoils in the boosted prize-money pools. Perhaps they took their lead from the British Horseracing Authority, which also blithely – or perhaps wilfully – ignored the unsustainable nature of the money washing through the sport.
That was the party. Now meet the hangover. It remains to be seen how many betting shops will close as a result to £2 stakes on FOBTs, or how much actual betting turnover over racing, if any, is lost as a result, but the sport’s income from media rights is sure to take a hit and since a fair chunk of it goes into prize money, that too will inevitably suffer.
Boycotts of a handful of races may help trainers and owners to work off a little of their anger, but will make no difference to the maths in the long run. The correct response to the loss of unearned income is to work harder for returns from the core business, by making racing more competitive and so increasing its appeal for punters and racegoers alike. And this, unfortunately, is where those promoting direct action like that at Lingfield last weekend often tune out. They want more prize money, but they do not want it to be any more difficult to win.
FOBTs introduced the poison of risk-free profits to the off-course betting industry, and over the course of 15 years, the toxic effects of getting something for nothing spread to all parts of the system. Now, at last, the poison is finally being drawn out and while the process may be painful for all concerned, what did anyone expect?
Brandon Castle (3.30) and Bryony Frost have a sound chance of making it three wins from three runs for their partnership at Plumpton this season. The 7yo has won two novice hurdle races since switching from the Flat to join Neil King but faces his toughest jumps test yet, in his first handicap, despite having only four rivals. Brandon Castle was successful seven times on the Flat, however, and may well have more to offer. Oisin Murphy returns from a few days in Meydan and Doha to take up several booked rides at Wolverhampton. His mount offering the best value could well be Raucous (6.55).
At Uttoxeter, a market check should be kept on Blackmill (2.40). This seven-year-old looks like a winner-in-waiting under Rules for the first time – but it may that ground softer than today's would be preferable.
Tips
Ayr 1.50 Western Honour 2.20 Castaliera 2.50 Seemingly So 3.20 Westland Row 3.55 Misdflight 4.25 Three Kings 5.00 Highway Companion
Plumpton 2.00 Potters Sapphire 2.30 Graasten 3.00 The Flying Horse 3.30 Brandon Castle (nap) 4.05 Big Meadow 4.40 No Trumps 5.10 Pogo I Am
Uttoxeter 2.10 Mercer’s Troop 2.40 Blackmill 3.10 The Cashel Man 3.45 Perfect Man 4.15 Tanarpino 4.50 Belle Amis
Wolverhampton 5.25 The Defiant 5.55 It’s All A Joke 6.25 With Caution 6.55 Raucous (nb) 7.25 Power Home 7.55 Baasha
