Just when you think the BHA can't get any more stupid and deluded.....

[Ian_Davies]

A racing "strike" is utterly pointless - it will simply cost the industry money and no one outside the racing and betting industries will care.

Strikes only work when a denial of service impacts adversely upon most of the general public.

This won't.

Racing has zero leverage here.

 

[Mr Whatoxo]

A racing "strike" is utterly pointless - it will simply cost the industry money and no one outside the racing and betting industries will care.

Strikes only work when a denial of service impacts adversely upon most of the general public.

This won't.

Racing has zero leverage here.

Bad news for the “What are you backing today?” thread that day.

 

[Ian_Davies]

The worry has to be that the “What are you backing today?” crew might bet on some other sport, back a winner and never return to U.K. horse racing!

Extend that sentiment across the country and U.K. horse racing suffers a permanent daily loss of revenue - or even ends forever - the day of the strike!

Joking aside, whoever came up with this strike idea is a Grade A, 24-carat, CLOWN (nap).

 

[Mr Whatoxo]

The worry has to be that the “What are you backing today?” crew might bet on some other sport, back a winner and never return to U.K. horse racing!

Extend that sentiment across the country and U.K. horse racing suffers a permanent daily loss of revenue - or even ends forever - the day of the strike!

Joking aside, whoever came up with this strike idea is a Grade A, 24-carat, CLOWN (nap).

It all seems a bit pointless as they are merely re-scheduling to other days. Now, if they were to cancel a few fixtures as part of a well thought out plan to reduce the bloated fixture list?

 

[Truncheon]

Laughable this

It's not even a strike, the meetings are still going ahead

Equivalent to everyone in a factory going on strike for the day and going in to make up the hours on a Saturday

 

[PlaceBacker]

Bad news for the “What are you backing today?” thread that day.

There will be racing in Ireland that day….

 

[Barnestormer]

I wonder if Sky Sports Racing will televise an extra greyhound card that day to satisfy the mug punters needs.

 

[Ian_Davies]

What Your Favourite Uncle Smart Arse Will De Doing On "Strike" Day Market

Joining the demonstration in Westminster: A million and no takers.

Having a bet on something else because I need to have a bet every day: A million and no takers.

Cooking and eating, washed down with my favourite soft drink, a big f%*&-up personal signature pasta meal, in between studying the cards for the next day and the day after that: No Offers.

 

[Gullible]

Like the other posters on here that I choose to read I do think that the whole excercise is pretty pointless and will achieve sfa but if the BHA had not acknowledged the tax will be a problem they would have been slated wholesale. My question is what would have been a better way to do it………. I actually have no idea !!

 

[archie]

It's attracted more coverage by mainstream media than all the blatherings in the Racing Post.

 

[mcvitiespace]

A racing "strike" is utterly pointless - it will simply cost the industry money and no one outside the racing and betting industries will care.

Strikes only work when a denial of service impacts adversely upon most of the general public.

This won't.

Racing has zero leverage here.

The off course betting industry won’t actually care. They no longer need horse racing. If they did care , why not come out in solidarity and close all the shops? Of course they will not do this. Instead they will try to force punters onto those infernal FOBTs or add an extra 1000 or so pretend events. You know the ones where they determine a result once all bets have been collated.

 

[Ardross]

Notable that it appears to have been arranged and rushed out before Lord Allen takes up his post .

Also notable decided by Gambling Strategy Committee - which contains no rep from PJA or racegoers - plus câ change.

 

[Ian_Davies]

When Gosden and Beckett start talking about participating in a "strike," you know the world has finally turned completely inside out in its dystopia.

It's like hearing Netanyahu has converted to Islam.

 

[Barnestormer]

I noticed just before the off on the Ebor the overround figure on SP betting was showing as 141%.
I realise that most people on this forum strike their bets well in advance but it is worrying what the bookmakers will trade at if the proposed tax increases go through.

 

[Mr Whatoxo]

I noticed just before the off on the Ebor the overround figure on SP betting was showing as 141%.
I realise that most people on this forum strike their bets well in advance but it is worrying what the bookmakers will trade at if the proposed tax increases go through.

In last years Ebor, the overground was 137%, when there were 20 runners, so 141% is in line with this for the 22 who ran yesterday. For comparison, the last 2 Grand Nationals were 137 and 138%.

It does seem high, though we are often quoted the 2% per horse stat by Ed Chamberlin.

So, I suppose the worry is, what will the overround be like when the changes come in?

 

[Mr Whatoxo]

The off course betting industry won’t actually care. They no longer need horse racing. If they did care , why not come out in solidarity and close all the shops? Of course they will not do this. Instead they will try to force punters onto those infernal FOBTs or add an extra 1000 or so pretend events. You know the ones where they determine a result once all bets have been collated.

I wouldn’t say they don’t care, because I think Horse Racing does still get people into the shops, and from there they can entice a proportion of these customers onto machines or other betting opportunities that are not Horse Racing.

 

[Ian_Davies]

People who bet are SP are the same people who use their current account as a savings account.

They don't care about value on any level and tbh are major contributors to the Levy.

If anyone here not involved in a "knock out job" bets at SP, please identify yourself so I can remove you from my Christmas Card list.

 

[Quixall Crossett]

With reference to the title of the thread, i would argue that the stupidity of the BHA has no limits. They are the most incompetent (dis)organisation on this tiny planet of ours. Racing will continue its long, slow painful death whilst this bunch amateur idiots remain in charge. Off the top of my head in just five minutes i thought of the following.
The complete f**k up at Nottingham about 6 or 7 years ago when the wrong horse was mistakenly announced over the tannoy as a non runner whilst the horses were at the post and it wasnt allowed to run.

Around the same time two horses from the Ivan Furtado stable were mixed up ran in the wrong races. This was obviously not the first time it had happened but the BHA (yet again) said they would put measures in place to make sure it didnt happen again. A few months later it happened again with a couple of Charlie McBride horses. It has happened a few times since.

We had the fiasco of Lossiemouth being allotted the wrong weight at Cheltenham early last year. That wasnt too long after four horses carried the incorrect weights in a race at York. They hadnt even noticed that they had changed the ratings in the race conditions.

How many photo finish cock ups have we seen ???? I remember Absaloms Lady in the Christmas hurdle many moons ago. There have been many since The clowns at the BHA say after every f**k up that they are putting measures in place to "make sure it doesnt happen again" What a load of f**king tosh !!!! A mate of mine who likes piling into a shorty now and again got well screwed over when the clowns at Kempton (again) called the wrong result in the Bird For Life/Oregon Gift race. If i remember rightly his bet was a 550/500.

Then there was the Gavin Cromwell horse that they refused to let run because they had f**ked the weights up. The name of the horse escapes me but i know it was at Wolverhampton.

Or the case of Sean McBride in the Danny Brock affair when the BHA morons first of all said that the penalty guidance system had been changed since a previous case and then at a later date realised that it had NOT been changed. He was banned for 7 years but his lawyer argued that it should only have been 6 months. When the idiots tried the case again they moved the goalposts and reduced his ban from 7 years to 5 years.

I could go on but it is winding me up. No doubt many of you could add plenty to this short (?) list of mine.

So in summary, the BHA are a bunch of f**king useless morons who cause more damage to an already dying sport and they havent stopped yet.
Just you watch !!!

 

[Quixall Crossett]

The off course betting industry won’t actually care. They no longer need horse racing. If they did care , why not come out in solidarity and close all the shops? Of course they will not do this. Instead they will try to force punters onto those infernal FOBTs or add an extra 1000 or so pretend events. You know the ones where they determine a result once all bets have been collated.

Spot on !!! The "bookmakers" of today (and i use the word "bookmakers" very loosely) dont give a flying f**k about horse racing. It is an evil that they must put up with. It is a necessary evil. It is too time consuming. It takes up too much manpower and therefore man hours. And that obviously comes at a cost. And the man hours v profit is just not worth it. The clowns that probably still fill your screens and spew their shite and lies can talk about their love and commitment to racing as much as they like but they fool NOBODY !!! (Note i said YOUR screens - i dont watch ANY racing channels or ITV).
Why on earth would they want to plough more and more money into a sport that returns them very little ???
Football betting is far more lucrative. As is Cricket. As is Golf. And thats before i even mention the FOBTS and online casinos !!!
None of those above have punters piling into the prices as soon as they come out around teatime. None of them have restrictions about when you can get a fair amount on (i.e.8.00, 9.00 or 10..00 the following morning) so as too restrict anyone who has half a clue about what is too big in price. And the reason those prices are too big is that the days of odds compilers are long gone and as long as you are able to copy and paste you are now a trader or odds compiler. No shady gambles from dodgy stables in Football. No sudden return to form after showing nothing for two years in Cricket. No sudden miraculous performance after showing absolutely nothing at all lifetime in Golf. And of course, all this time, the FOBTS are spinning and raking in the millions and the disgraceful and evil online casinos are making even more and at the same time causing misery galore.

And some people think that horse racing is important to "bookmakers.
Sorry, but this is 2025, not 1975 !!!!!

 

[pawras]

I bet the RP wouldn't make public just how much of their revenue comes from click throughs from their website to 'bookmakers'.......

 

[barjon]

You’re a cheerful chappie, QC, killed off horse racing in two posts . Plenty of room for improvement from BHA, but their overall performance is far from a disaster. As for bookmakers, I just read that William Hill note that horse racing accounts for over a third of their revenue. Also, the last statistics I saw said that off-course betting turnover was £3billion pa. Maybe a tad more important than you think.

 

[Quixall Crossett]

Thank you barjon, i do love a bit of interraction. Lets face it, thats what forums are all about.

First of all, cheerful chappie - maybe. Although dont ask the missus.
But i would say i am a realist.

As for the BHA, there is plenty of room for improvement because you cant go any further down when you have hit rock bottom. The only way is up but i would bet that the BHA could even find a way to sink even further.

"Off course betting turnover £3billion" I used to keep the yearly figures and i know that figure is from 2023. It was around £6billion in the late noughties and a figure i have just seen had it at £5.7billion in 2009. So bearing in mind inflation and how much more people are earning now compared to 2009, it would be reasonable to assume that the yearly turnover figures for these days would be a lot higher. But it is HALF what it used to be. I wouldnt insult anyone on here or indeed anyone anywhere and ask why you think that is. We all know the answer.

I wish the yearly turnover was around £6billion. Or even higher. That would mean that we would still be getting a bet on to a decent amount and not having to scrape around for bits and have three or four pals trying to get a few quid on for us all. When it takes four people and a total of nine bets to get a measly £71 ew (i obviously wanted more) on a horse yesterday, you can gauge how bad things are. As time goes by, i look back at my days of trading and odds compiling with more and more pride because i would take the punter on and i would lay the prices i issued and that went for my colleagues as well. I look now at some of the bets I and some of my mates have had knocked back over the past few years and i can safely say that the people responsible would have been moved to another job. Trading definitely is not for them.

But it is what it is now. And sadly there is nothing that any of us can do about it.

Anyway, thanks for replying and have a good day tomorrow.

 

[Quixall Crossett]

I bet the RP wouldn't make public just how much of their revenue comes from click throughs from their website to 'bookmakers'.......

No idea mate but i suppose they have to make their money somehow because they will never make it by top notch journalism and definitely not by calling out any of their paymasters, the bookmakers.

 

[Ian_Davies]

I've enjoyed reading the comments here the last day or so.

IMO the BHA is poor and some comment (not that here) on them and on racing's situation in both the racing media and in racing social media isn't much better.

Among things that make me roll my eyes is a failure to distinguish between Gross Profits Tax and the Levy.

I think a lot of criticism of GPT is misplaced too.

It was probably more by accident than design but, when Gordon Brown replaced turnover-based betting duty with GPT, it created a golden era and a new generation of professional and semi-pro punters.

It is also hard to see how the betting exchange business model could have existed in a turnover-based taxation era too and at the time I was active in lobbying government for exchange commissions to be the device GPT was paid on which, to the annoyance of many bookmakers, it eventually was.

A return to betting tax on punters would be catastrophic and anyone who wants that can't remember the world before 2001.

Racing, its media and its social media are IMO full of people who haven't got the first idea about any of it and I sadly agree with all the negative prophesy on this thread.

 

[reet hard]

I've enjoyed reading the comments here the last day or so.

IMO the BHA is poor and some comment (not that here) on them and on racing's situation in both the racing media and in racing social media isn't much better.

Among things that make me roll my eyes is a failure to distinguish between Gross Profits Tax and the Levy.

I think a lot of criticism of GPT is misplaced too.

It was probably more by accident than design but, when Gordon Brown replaced turnover-based betting duty with GPT, it created a golden era and a new generation of professional and semi-pro punters.

It is also hard to see how the betting exchange business model could have existed in a turnover-based taxation era too and at the time I was active in lobbying government for exchange commissions to be the device GPT was paid on which, to the annoyance of many bookmakers, it eventually was.

A return to betting tax on punters would be catastrophic and anyone who wants that can't remember the world before 2001.

Racing, its media and its social media are IMO full of people who haven't got the first idea about any of it and I sadly agree with all the negative prophesy on this thread.

Strange that bettlng tax works in Ireland - and to the degree that benefits prize money much more than our levy?