Dim response from Gambling Commission over BetBright
“It is what it is” said Rich Ricci, fronting up to grillings on TV at Cheltenham from Lydia Hislop and Alice Plunkett. But it shouldn’t have been. Just over a week before this year’s...
Author: Mike Deasy
Cheltenham Festival emotions run high
WINNERS ENCLOSURE What’s been good in racing in the past week… Willie Mullins finally landing the Gold Cup with Al Boum Photo, ridden by Paul Townend, the only one of Mullins’ three runners in...
BHA failing in the equine welfare debate
It’s not long since these scribblings called for a robust response to those who campaign against racing using equine fatalities on racecourses to further their argument. The tenet of the proposed response was to...
Racing’s week to forget
WINNERS ENCLOSURE What’s been good in racing… The Tote cutting Cheltenham pool deductions, with the amount yet to be confirmed – Britbet who operate the Tote on-course saying they’ve improved the time it takes...
Cheltenham Fesitval guides under the microscope
The Cheltenham Festival spawns a wide range of commercial offshoots. There’s a bit of a hike in the cost of staying in and around the Spa town in mid-March. For pubs and restaurants a...
Post price reflects hard times
Needless to say, next week’s price rise for the Racing Post from £2.90 to £3.20, an increase of over 10%, generated a lot of adverse comment. Last year saw the removal of the price...
Racing prize-money: a right old pickle
Racing has got itself into a right old pickle over its finances and the impact this will have on prize-money. First, bookmakers installed fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) into its shops, and opened more...
Budgets, boycotts, blunders and more
WINNERS ENCLOSURE What’s been good in racing in the past week… ITV Racing’s Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani being named sports broadcasters of the year at the 2018 British Sports Journalism Awards – one...
Cheltenham: the early years
Whisper it if you dare, but the first racing to take place in Cheltenham was on the Flat, when a meeting took place at Nottingham Hill in 1815. Three years later, and Cleeve Hill...
The racing week in review
WINNERS ENCLOSURE What’s been good in racing in the past week… Paul Nicolls training the 3,000th winner of his career when 7yo Capitaine won Taunton’s 2m0.5f handicap hurdle – it was Nicholls’ 2,960th British...