Tag Archive for: British Horseracing Authority

Harrington keen to ensure unintrusive affordability checks

The British Horseracing Authority intends to ensure the affordability checks on lower-level gambling spend are as unobtrusive as proposed in the government’s Gambling Act Review White Paper.

The paper proposes that the threshold for these checks is £125 net loss within a month or £500 within a year and also states that the checks will be ‘frictionless for customers and conducted online by credit reference agencies’.

Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, felt the nature of these checks was crucial to their success and that their practical implication would decide how much of an impact they would have on racing’s revenue.

She said: “The numbers around the less intrusive checks, the £125, are much lower (than anticipated), but it depends on the big unknown for us.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons on the Gambling Act Review White Paper
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons on the Gambling Act Review White Paper (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)

“The work we will do with the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government is how unintrusive and friction-free those checks are.

“The one area we want to get visibility on to see how much of a risk it is to us is those friction-free tests at the lower end of losses.”

Harrington was concerned that the paper’s estimation of the financial losses racing will suffer as a result of the measure was an underestimation, with a total reduction in income between £8.4 and £14.9 million the predicted sum.

“The government’s own economic impact work is estimating between £8.4 and £14.9 million negative impact per annum,” she said.

“We want to work with our partners in the media rights companies to do our own economic check on those numbers. We’re a little concerned that it might be an underestimation.”

Another factor the BHA intend to raise with the Gambling Commission is the seasonal nature of racing gambling, with punters likely to stake and potentially lose more when the big festivals are under way.

This could bring a customer who is not a habitual gambler close to the threshold for enhanced checks and the BHA has data to share to highlight these patterns among those who bet on racing.

“Part of our conversations with the Gambling Commission has got to be taking into account customer behaviour and historic customer behaviour shows that people do save up for those major festivals in the same way that other people would save up for holiday,” Harrington said.

“We’ve got a huge amount of evidence on that to share with the Gambling Commission. The wording is also around net losses, so we know some of our customers might use their winnings from a major festival to fund their punting for the remainder of the year – how will those checks take that into account?

“Particularly the 90-day threshold, you could still be losing money in July that you won in March. It’s a detail that we need to get some context on.”

Harrington refutes claims BHA pandering to racing’s critics with whip changes

British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington has responded to criticism of the sport’s leadership amid continuing outcry over the introduction of the new whip regulations.

Thirteen-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls said on Friday he was “livid” with the timing of the changes ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, which starts on March 14, and that the BHA needed to show “a bit of backbone” to stand up for the sport.

No less than 19 jockeys were given whip suspensions in the first week that the new rules came into force on February 19. A further 12 riders were suspended when the whip review committee convened for a second time.

Nicholls accused the BHA of “appeasing” critics of the sport rather than standing up for its participants.

Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday programme, Harrington said: “Obviously I’m disappointed to hear those comments, but actually it does take backbone to make some unpopular decisions. We know there is huge passion on either side of the debate about the whip and I have to be strong in that we are not pandering to those people who will never love the sport.

“What we’re trying to do is make sure the sport is fair and also that it’s as attractive as possible to those people who don’t have a strong opinion either way on the sport.

“I think everybody would agree there’s different sides and different schools of thought on whether the whip is a welfare issue, but I think everybody does agree that it is a perception issue for the sport. I think it would be negligent of us to know that and just sit and do nothing about it.

“The whip review panel on our behalf was filled with people who work really closely with horses and it was their strong recommendation to continue to keep the whip for encouragement, because they believe it is not a welfare issue.

“Let me be clear, I do not believe it is an issue of welfare, but I am also leading a sport where I know there is a huge, passionate debate on both sides and difference of opinion there.”

Lorcan Williams will miss the Cheltenham Festival after being suspended for overuse of the whip on Prestige Novices' Hurdle winner Makin'yourmindup last month
Lorcan Williams will miss the Cheltenham Festival after being suspended for overuse of the whip on Prestige Novices’ Hurdle winner Makin’yourmindup last month (John Walton/PA)

The changes to the whip regulations see a reduction of one strike. It can now be used six times on the Flat and seven over jumps, with a disqualification for the horse if riders go four or more times over that threshold. Suspensions for jockeys are also more severe.

Harrington added: “It’s also a fairness issue, to make sure we have fair results – if you are connections of a horse that is ridden within the rules but you lose out to a horse that is ridden outside the rules, there needs to be sufficient deterrent to make sure that is fair and there isn’t a win at all costs mentality.

“There’s never a good time to make changes and making changes is difficult.

“There will always be people who disagree, but there is a clear understanding that those rules are in place now and it’s up to the jockeys to ride within those rules.”

Penalty calculation tweaked ahead of whip rules introduction

The British Horseracing Authority has “marginally adjusted the way penalties are calculated” after confirming new whip regulations will come into force over jumps on Monday as planned.

Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins have both called for the ruling body to push back the start date for implementation due to concerns the new rules could overshadow next month’s Cheltenham Festival, while Gordon Elliot described the potential consequences as “frightening” earlier this week.

A number of senior riders from both sides of the Irish Sea have also aired their misgivings, with Harry Cobden initially suggesting he could have been banned for 24 days for his winning ride on Il Ridoto at Cheltenham last month, while leading northern-based jockey Sean Quinlan called for further discussion around the directive concerning the whip being used above shoulder height.

New whip rules are fully introduced over jumps on Monday
New whip rules are fully introduced over jumps on Monday (David Davies/PA)

Under the new regulations, use of the whip in the forehand position will be allowed, with the BHA having reversed a previous decision to ban it after objections from jockeys, although permitted use of the whip has been reduced to six and seven strikes in Flat and jumps races respectively.

The penalty structure has also been strengthened, with the very worst whip offences potentially resulting in disqualification of horses and riding bans of 20 days – a tariff which will be doubled in class one and two races.

But in its latest update the BHA confirmed only offences for use of the whip above the permitted level will be doubled and not offences for use above shoulder height. A tweak to how offences are aggregated where multiple offences are committed in the same ride has also been made.

A statement from the BHA read: “The rules being implemented on Monday are the result of a detailed consultation process designed to foster more considered and judicious use of the whip.

“They are being introduced after an extensive bedding-in period which has successfully allowed jockeys and officials to familiarise themselves with the new rules and guidance and identify where improvements can be made to their implementation, or where some jockeys might need to adapt their riding style. This was the purpose of the bedding-in period.

“We are grateful for the input of the PJA (Professional Jockeys Association), NTF (National Trainers Federation) and a number of senior riders and trainers and we have now reached a position where the new rules and guidance will be implemented in the manner in which they were intended.

“We were pleased to note jockeys stating that the responsibility now rests on them to ride within the new rules and adapt their riding style where necessary. We have already seen this happening during the bedding-in period, for which jockeys deserve great credit.”