Racing: Ladbrokes return fire at Savill

BRITAIN'S LEADING bookmakers yesterday warned the British Horseracing Board chairman, Peter Savill, to keep his hands off the fixture list.

Ladbrokes insisted that tampering with the programme, as advocated by Savill, would results in trouble for the betting industry. "The 1999 fixture list is the most appropriate there could have been and we want it to stay that way," Ladbrokes spokesman, Andy Clifton, said."We need fixtures at a time when people want to stay in shops. If people don't bet, then the Levy will go down and nobody wants that."

Savill once again showed that he was not the bookmakers' number one fan when he claimed at Tuesday's Gimcrack Dinner that they were selling the industry short. He claimed that more money must be stumped up by the bookmakers to ease racing's financial problems. He also wants to see more fixtures in the evening and on Sundays when bigger crowds are likely.

Clifton added: "The important thing is when racing is staged rather than the number of fixtures. A balance needs to be struck between the needs of the racecourses and what will best suit the Levy."