Sport is made for betting

Ascot 1400 May 3 Conditions Stakes 5f, Class 2, 59.76s (slow by 0.76s) Good to Firm Frozen Angel . Last of nine in terrible debut at Newmarket on April 18, when slowly away and rather green. Contested lead, took over at 2f and shot away. Impressive and high rating figures. Corinthia Knight . Won first two starts (both AW) by a total of 10.5L. Tracked Frozen Angel, niggled along near 2f pole, and couldn't catch the winner. Not quite as good on turf or not a fan of the straight? Still a decent run, don't write him off just yet. Inviolable Spirit . Nice win on debut at Redcar on Apr 10. Awkwardly away, made move at 2f but unable to go with the front two. Decent run but that's her level. Global Tango . Mar 22, £42k yearling (€29k foal). Settled at rear, only four lengths from the lead. Hooked into centre of track at 2f to make his run, no acceleration, cue put back in the rack soon after. Tangled . Feb 5, £67k yearling. Broke well, contested lead hard against the r...

When a state capital of over 1m people has two racecourses close to the city, the inevitable pressure to sell one of them will occur as the popularity of horse racing continues to diminish relative to alternative entertainment options. Racing in Western Australia has been strong in recent years, with metropolitan prizemoney embarrassing South Australia and making it a viable option for owners and trainers. But that has come at a cost - Perth Racing has robbed Peter to pay Paul and now they are struggling to cope with interest payments of $1m per year. Premier puts Perth Racing under the pump WA Premier Colin Barnett is mounting pressure on cash-strapped Perth Racing to sell Belmont Park racecourse to make way for the development of a 100,000 seat football stadium. With Perth Racing to announce major prizemoney cuts this week, the WA industry is supporting Barnett's call to dump the ageing Belmont as a winter racing venue. Traditionally Ascot is the A-grade track in Perth,...

Today's feature article in the Racing Post is all about the new project board charged with reinvigorating racing in Britain - Racing for Change. On the one hand, it is something the industry needs to drive it forward. On the other, it's a body full of chairmen and bigwigs who have had a big say in getting the industry where it is now. Some of the proposals: - Identifying key fixtures to clearly emphasise start and finish of premier Flat season Doesn't the Lincoln at Doncaster, soon followed by the Craven meeting at Newmarket already mark the start of the season? The Champions Day meeting at Newmarket virtually finishes the season already. - Create new showcase finale, to crown the champions of the Flat season The likes of Ballydoyle and Godolphin control racing in Britain because they pick and choose where their horses run (and how those races are run) in order to create more commercial value for their breeding operations. The champions are unlikely to run a dozen times in ...

First race at Ascot today, the favourite in the 2yo race plays up at the gates, sweats up but eventually goes in. It drifts from 2.0 (evens) to 2.62 (13/8) on Betfair in the last couple of minutes, gets beaten and then John McCririck on ATR proclaims someone knew! Of course they bloody did, they were watching TV unlike the mindless buffoon! He then goes onto blame Sean Boyce for interviewing the jockey who didn't give the most positive tip for the horse, but that was shown well before the race. The drift would barely have happen with bookies simply because everyone has left the ring by the time the horses get to the stalls. Betfair don't stop until the finish post. Betfair once paid him to be an ambassador of the company for racing promotions, despite the fact the guy couldn't recognise a computer if it was sat in front of him. Eccentric, egotistical and clueless.

This week Betfair has purchased a US racing network and tote pool company for just £35m. The Tasmanian TAB, a small but innovative tote monopoly, is up for sale with estimates being between AU$30 and $80 million (£13-35m). Let's look at the UK tote. It's not a monopoly. Day-to-day race pools (win, place, exacta, trifecta) are pitiful, the only popular products are the Placepot and Scoop6. The Tote has a lot of shops, some of which are rather dated or closing down. It has a bookmaking arm, but who doesn't these days, and how many of these customers are genuinely loyal without accts elsewhere? The Tote now links in with most UK bookies, which means big pools but gives away most of their margin as well. The technology is outdated and frequently breaks down. A tote should be able to show approximate dividends the instant the horses cross the line. A recent bet of mine at Ascot, a winning trifecta, took 20 minutes to display a dividend. How do they calculate the divs - with pen ...