Racing: Bookies forced into strike action

The plan of the British Horseracing Board to squeeze every penny out of those businesses that require access to its pre-race data, whatever the consequences, backfired on Saturday when bookmakers at Lingfield refused to bet on the opening race. It is only the second time that on-course bookmakers have gone on strike, the first being when Winston Churchill attempted to impose betting duty on course in 1926.

The on-course betting market is fragile enough without the impost, from 1 April, of payments to the BHB by bookies of 10 per cent of their gross profits. This will replace a fixed fee of £132 per year.

The days are long gone when a packed, vibrant racecourse betting ring was the conduit for all the biggest betting money. Any further diminution in its vigour will add fuel to the notion that starting-prices should be created off-course under the supervision of the multiple-shop firms.