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Ban on trainers betting proposed

Greg Wood
Wednesday 18 July 2001 00:00 BST
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The Jockey Club should consider banning trainers from betting, according to the report of Sir Alan Budd's Betting Review Body, which was published yesterday. The report also recommends the creation of a Gambling Commission, to regulate all betting in Britain, including bookmakers both on and off the course, that gambling debts should be recoverable at law and that British bookmakers should be allowed to accept bets on the National Lottery.

The Budd report is the most extensive investigation ever conducted into gambling in Britain, and while many of its recommendations relate to areas such as casinos, bingo and fruit machines, it also considers racing and betting with bookmakers at great length. Some of its recommendations, such as allowing betting on the Lottery and the introduction of Jackpot fruit machines with a £500 first prize to betting shops, read like a bookies' wish list, and many industry figures welcomed the report last night. The Review Body's thoughts on betting by trainers, though, will cause surprise and concern in many racing stables.

The Budd report insists that close links between trainers and bookmakers, with trainers often receiving preferential prices in return for information, can be compared to insider trading in the City. "If punters wish to bet by sticking a pin into the list of runners, that is up to them," the report says, "but those who rely on information should be confident that information is accurate and available to all. That does not appear to be the case in a number of sports, most notably horse racing."

The report goes on to recommend that "the Gambling Commission work closely with the Jockey Club, and others, to ensure betting is conducted in a fair manner and that there is not unfair access to information". It adds: "Areas they may wish jointly to consider might include whether the ban on betting should be extended to more people (for example, trainers)".

Toby Balding, a leading figure in the National Trainers' Federation, was surprised to hear of the recommendation last night. "Obviously, this will have to be discussed within the NTF," he said, "but I think that a lot of our members might see it as a slur on their reputation. I know that there are a lot of trainers who bet, and some who need to bet to balance the books. There are also owners who like to bet, and when they do, they like to think that the trainer is betting with them."

The most famous gambling yard in Britain in recent years has probably been that of Lynda Ramsden, whose husband, Jack, makes frequent, and very successful, forays into the ring. Barry Hills famously founded his training career on a huge gamble in the Lincoln Handicap, while Balding too needed a big bet to launch his operation. "I ran a horse in the Portland Handicap called New World," he said yesterday. "He was 33-1 when he should have been favourite. I had something like £300 on at 33-1, and picked up 10 grand in cash. That was a lot of money 44 years ago."

Punters who get in too deep may be dismayed that gambling debts may soon be actionable, but those who bet with bookies who go bust may have more chance of getting paid. They will also be pleased with the recommendation that high street bookies should be allowed to sell any food they see fit, and betting on the National Lottery, with odds for non-Jackpot wins far better than those offered by Camelot, should also prove popular. They should also be able to find a betting shop more easily, since previous rules insisting that new premises demonstrate an untapped demand before being granted a licence will be scrapped, and Budd also recommends that betting premises should be able to advertise their whereabouts like any other shop.

One further possible concern for punters is a proposal that rules preventing racecourses from charging bookmakers more than five times the public admission price should be scrapped. Racecourses have long wanted to rake off a percentage of bookies' turnover, and this could easily be passed on to punters as a back-door betting tax. In general, though, Budd's recommendations would make the average betting experience safer, more comfortable and more transparent, which can only be welcome on both sides of the counter.

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