Twisting By The Pool The threat by on-course bookmakers to withdraw their services from tomorrow is a sure-fire attention grabber. It is a desperate attempt by the layers to concentrate official minds on the practical difficulties of a declining industry and maybe even try to help out a little bit. Much more significant in the long-term though is Horse Racing Ireland's confirmation that potentially selling all or part of Tote Ireland to private interests is among options being examined for the organisation. That would represent major change after almost 90 years of the Tote which is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of HRI with all profits put back into the sport. Despite the theoretical non-profit model the Tote has mostly always been the sick man of Ireland's betting landscape. The nature of the market here has always meant that bookmakers, both of the on-course and off-course variety, have always been the preferred gambling route for most punters who want a bet. However the last two decades have seen transformational change in the industry through online bookmakers and the exchanges and it has resulted in the Tote becoming more and more marginalised. A lot of flowery ambition has been uttered about its future over the years. Rarely if ever has Tote Ireland's prospects looked as grim as they do now. Last year's figures, minus the vital input from Israel that had been inflating them, made for depressing reading with total turnover dropping by 33.3 per cent to €69.2 million. Significantly on-course betting fell by 7.7 per cent in 2018 to just €10.7 million. The first half of 2019 saw a further 11.7 per cent fall in turnover. Off course international pools generated just €2.6 million. Those sort of dips are unsustainable and it's why the HRI board will examine all options at its next meeting on December 16. Talks with third parties are already underway as outlined in this report - Horse Racing Ireland may sell all or part of Tote Ireland Maybe some will be philosophically appalled at the prospect of some or all of a semi-state asset entering private hands when the current seven year Totalisator licence granted by the government runs out in April 2021. There might even be some appalled at the idea of anyone plucky enough to take on the job - Tote Ireland is hardly a sexy brand at the moment! But perhaps the majority will take an attitude of there not being much to lose. As it currently operates Tote Ireland looks jaded and doomed to continue on a downward slope. If fresh methods and ideas, and possibly most crucially of all, fresh capital, can be generated by taking such a transformative step then that's probably something worth exploring. The British government sold off its Tote in 2011 and the sky didn't fall in. Mind you it hardly became a transformed entity either. But there remains enough in the model that last month Together For The Tote completed its acquisition of the Tote from Betfred for a sum described as north of £100 million. Ireland is a smaller, excuse the pun, pool. But lying around and doing nothing about the Tote doesn't seem to be an option. Doing nothing is what the Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association claim the Association of Irish Racecourses in particular have been doing in relation to their grievances. So yesterday they issued a statement that basically served notice of strike action by saying they can't guarantee a service. It's a radical piece of sabre-rattling that should at least get the attention of AIR and HRI. The INPBA have a list of complaints about race programming, meetings that clash, 35 minute intervals in eight race programmes, and an expanded fixture list. Fundamentally, much of the sector's problems comes down to a lack of footfall at the vast majority of midweek meeting that have swollen that fixture list. That means reduced turnover which makes business difficult. Most of these cards are now run for off-course interests, either betting or television, because that's where the big money is. And admirable as it is to try and encourage more people to go racing it's hard not to think sometimes that that ship has long since sailed away. When it comes to scheduling this is an SIS show. But since bookmakers are an integral part of the racing experience here it surely shouldn't be too big an issue to meet them halfway on other more malleable issues such as racecourse charges. Bookmakers currently have to pay tracks five times the admission price on a given day in order to stand. So a €20 entry means a layer has to cough up €100 before doing anything else. That isn't an issue on big days or most weekends. But that charge clearly sticks in the craw of a lot of bookmakers when it comes to midweek fixtures that barely attract any sort of customer base. The INPBA insist they have got no joy from AIR about flexibility on that. In the overall context the figures involved are surely small beer for racecourses riding the media rights express. On-course betting has reportedly dropped 75 per cent in a decade. It surely won't badly hit one sector's pocket too much to try and show a little flexibility to another. They've endured turbulence along the way but the BHA now looks ahead of the game when it comes to political scrutiny over welfare. Controversial steps taken in relation to the whip and welfare regulation appears to have headed off manifesto pledges at the pass before the upcoming British general election. There's going to be an election here too within ten months. Irish racing isn't under similar pressure yet. That gives it time to get its own welfare strategy in order. The charge against the BHA has been that the various initiatives it has taken are little more than cosmetic PR tinkering which panders to an ignorant public. It's very credibility has been called into question at times this year by many who rarely stray too far from an 'if they don't like it they can lump it' position. The danger of that was obvious in last week's Liberal Democrat manifesto which pledged to establish an independent regulatory body for horse welfare to "prevent the abuse and avoidable deaths of racehorses." A day later Labour promised an independent review of the whip to find out if its use for 'encouragement' can be justified. It's safe to presume racing enthusiasts are a minority in both parties. But all political parties are attuned to popular opinion. The Lib Dem position is very similar to last year's petition by the animal rights body Animal Aid which led to a parliamentary debate. This prompted some worryingly naive statements by various politicians and underlined the view that parliament must be the BHA focus. However all that tinkering, especially the creation of a Horse Welfare Board, means serious and credible organisations such as the RSPCA and the government department, DEFRA, are prepared to allow racing continue to police itself. The value of that position should be self-evident in the context of one politician last year demanding to know when there would be zero equine fatalities in racing. With racing increasingly coming under welfare pressure throughout the world, especially in the US, but also in other major racing jurisdictions such as Australia, the lessons of getting your political ducks in a row are clear. But they should especially be so in Ireland where state subsidy underpins the entire industry. One racing note relates to those claiming that man of the moment Robbie Power is riding better than ever. He's certainly more in demand than ever. Power criss-crossed the Irish Sea multiple times last week to huge effect, particularly on Lostintranslation at Haydock and Chris's Dream in the Troytown at Navan. But technically it's hard to believe he's doing anything different. What is different for the 37 year old is opportunity, and the confidence that comes with that. Always a respected professional what has changed for Power is fashion. That he continues to make the most of his opportunities only shows how the talent that had always been there wasn't recognised enough. That might make one ponder how much other talent is being underused. Finally, here's wishing racecourse photographer Pat Healy a speedy recovery. Apparently the popular Kerryman is already laughing off the incident at Navan when a horse crashed into him just after the line. Thankfully he's set to make a full recovery. But it was a scary incident, the circumstances of which regulatory officials are going to examine further.
