Racing without punters is nothing

Hi all,

Inside today’s main piece I look at the best of Friday’s racing but first a call to action.

I care about horse racing, as I’m sure you do, and I care about its future. It’s a sport which increasingly doesn’t seem to have one as it travels at warp speed into obscurity.

All the talk about affordability checks has got me thinking. Isn’t it time that racing’s real customers had a voice.

Every self-interest group in the sport be it trainers, jockeys breeders, racecourses, and bookmakers have a body that represents them. Yet punters don’t have one.

There are believed to be five million active UK punters. We come from across the whole of society. Yet we’re the least organised group in the country.

Punters are the lifeblood of horse racing. Without us there isn’t a meaningful sport. Yet we have been ignored and treated like idiots for years.

Punters need a platform

To succeed punters, need a platform. The ideal one would be the Racing Post. Mind you that would imply the sports trade paper cared about punters. When you are reliant on bookmaker advertising for your income, I suspect you don’t.

Punters do have the Horseracing Bettors Forum https://ukhbf.org/about/.  Launched to much fanfare by the BHA in 2015.

I maybe being unkind to the organisation but what have they really achieved.  I’m sure they have had some impact albeit its hard to find out what. I get a trade union set up by an employer type of vibe about them.

The Justice For Punters organisation are great resource and well worth a read.

Making an informed choice to gamble

Then there’s a new kid on the bloc in the Gamblers Consumer Forum.

Home

The GCF are worth a looking at. They seem to be saying some good things about affordability checks. However, no mention of bookmaker restrictions and account closures.  Which for a gamblers consumer group is a bit remiss. For now, I’m keeping a watching brief with them.

The GCF have been featured on the Barstewards Podcast. If you haven’t listened, you should – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD-cocG50cZVCEuWPHOu7-g.

I don’t always agree with them politically and I suspect they aren’t to everyone’s taste, but they’re straight talkers and not afraid to speak truth to power. There also the most entertaining racing podcast out there which is a major plus.

How do punters make their voice heard?

The best way to do it, is to strike as a body it’s as simple as that.

We stop betting for a day. Just pick a day. It could be a Thursday, albeit for maximum impact it would need to be a Saturday or a Group 1 day.

You keep your money in our pocket. Do something else for the day. It could be a spot of DIY that you have put off for weeks. You could take your kids out for the afternoon or go shopping with your partner. Just do something else and don’t bet.

Let’s see what racing authorities and the bookmakers think of that. Not betting for a day each week would give those in power a big, massive wake up call.

The key issue for me is restricting and banning of punters by corporate bookmakers. Plus, there is the taking of a sledgehammer to crack a nut approach of affordability checks, I could go on.

It’s time the racing authorities, the corporate bookmakers and the Gambling Commission heard us roar. Let’s get organised, make our demands clear and let’s have a dialogue from a position of strength.

We have the power but are we to insular and apathetic to use it?

I have to stress these are my own thoughts and may not reflect the opinions of the editors of this site.

Friday preview

It’s the first of two days of racing at Newbury with the Listed St Hugh's Stakes (3:45) the highlight.

The best of the evening’s action is at Cork with the Group 3 Give Thanks Stakes (5:52).

Britain and Ireland are forecast to get a deluge of rain today with Cork getting over 30mm and Newbury could get as much as 10mm. The amounts mean its going to make punting rather tricky today and tomorrow. It’s a shame as the ground had started to dry out nicely.

Juniper Berries seemed to handle soft ground when 2^nd of 11 to Flora Of Bermuda at Goodwood 16 days ago. Her yard is going well 6-25 (24%) in the past 14 days and she can go close in the Newbury feature.

Newmarket could miss most of the heavy rain and Bopedro is handicapped to go close in the mile handicap (8:05). The 7-year-old was a close up third over C&D last month and hasn’t be disgraced on two subsequent starts. Provided he gets a good pace to chase and he’s on a going day then he can win. The bookies are taking no chances with his odds though and 4/1 doesn’t excite me this morning.

Friday Selection:

Newbury

4:00 – Juniper Berries – 5/1 @ Coral.

Good luck with your Friday bets.

John