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Turfcall is a campaigning organisation that supports the British
horseracing organisations workforce. The reason that Turfcall exists is to
ensure that racing will be sustainable and financed in a way that will allow its
dedicated workforce to have a proper life with fair professional remuneration
and recognition for their vital contribution working within the industry for
years to come. Here is some brief information about the context in which
Turfcall is operating. The British Horseracing Board under chairman Peter Savill
is the official body which represents British horseracing and who achieved a
media rights deal with the Go Racing consortium in June 2001 now operational and
called Attheraces, the deal that last year received income to the British
horseracing industry of about £88 million from bookmakers and media companies.
Soon it will be receiving at least £160 million, approaching a doubling of
annual income. The betting industry has very recently agreed to pay the racing
industry £600 million over the next five years for data rights, that’s an
average of £120 million each year. The betting industry is extremely reliant
upon receiving both data and picture’s from racecourses in order to support
their businesses and that is why the betting industry is sponsoring the racing
industry through this deal. The BHB having successfully conducted the media
rights deal and further the data rights negotiations with the betting industry,
however recently have been denied a fair agreement on the sale of the British
horseracing industry’s picture rights to the betting industry as this was
hijacked by the Racecourse Association who failed to heed BHB chairman’s Peter
Savill warning not to accept a low offer which would undermine the suppliers of
the British horseracing industry’s product. Turfcall is campaigning now for a
fair share of all rights money to go to the horsemen and horsewomen who set the
British horseracing game up for others to play and keep the Britishhorseracing
industry going. Please join Turfcall’s fight for a far fairer distribution of
profits from racing to all stakeholders, the future security of racing and all
those who work in the racing industry depends on your support.
31st August 2001 Turfcall Campaign
The BHB Board structure must be sorted out following the factors
thrown up by the recent Media Rights Issues ... saga farce ... and the long
rough and dangerous ride Chairman Peter Savill had to endure.
31st August 2001 Turfcall Campaign
Racing must be properly funded. Not by trainers but by the BHB
Board. All other parties involved must allow this.
31st August 2001 Turfcall Campaign
The Racecourses must be held accountable by the BHB Board for
safety. Along the lines of yearly MOT's perhaps, certificates or licencing
policy regulations in various areas need to be enforced and upheld. Racecourses
who fail these tests, should be closed down until the work needed to be done is
completed and passed ... to reach the standard safety levels as to be set out by
the BHB Board.
19th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Richard Griffiths
Report will aid fight against corruption says Jockey Club.
19th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Graham Green
McCririck hails ‘definitive work on gambling’ Channel 4
betting expert John McCririck
19th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Michael Clower
Banned Kinane set to miss out on Galileo ride in King George.
19th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Jon Lees
BHB anger over ‘no’ to betting in pubs and clubs. The BHB
yesterday claimed that racing was at risk of becoming ‘the victim of an
increasingly unlevel playing field’ after its proposal to allow betting in
pubs and clubs was rejected by the Gambling review group.
19th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Paul Haigh
Lure of the horses puts serious news in the shade
18th July 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth Opinion
Report thick in volume but thin on surprised.
18th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Tote AGM Howard Wright examines a dismal downturn in fortunes.
Just as the Tote
18th July 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth
Jones calls for end to the uncertainty over privatisation. Tote
chairman Peter Jones yesterday made an impassioned appeal to the Government to
privatise the organisation before the end of 2003 and vowed to ‘explore every
avenue’ if this was delayed, including the possibility of a Private Members’
Bill. A grid shows The Tote: what it is and what it has.
18th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Gambling Review Special ‘A blueprint for the future’
Proposals for the biggest shake-up in the regulation of gambling for 40 years
were handed to the Government yesterday when Sir Alan Budd’s review group
completed its year-long investigation by offering the prospect of greater choice
for punters but stronger controls to protect the vulnerable.
17th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Ray Gilpin
William Hill copyright appeal opens. The Court of Appeal
yesterday heard the first day of William Hill’s appeal against a High Court
ruling in the company’s copyright battle with the BHB. The hearing, sheduled
to conclude to-day in London with judgement reserved until later this month ,
could have major significance for racing’s funding plans. The BHB won a
landmark victory in February when High Court judge Mr Justice Laddie ruled that
William Hill was ‘extracting and re-utilising” parts of the BHB database on
its website……….
17th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Graham Green
Tote meeting to focus on delay in sell-off. Chairman Peter Jones
is expected to vent his frustration over the Governments failure to set a time
table for the privatisation of the Tote, when he addresses today’s annual
meeting in London.. Hopes that Parliament would treat legislation facilitating
the sale to a ‘racing trust’ as a priority were dashed when the subject
failed to get a mention in last months ‘Queens Speech’ and Jones and his
fellow executives are anxious that the plan is not allowed to gather dust
indefinitely …The report is expected to be a the subject of a three- month
period of consultation before the Government embarks on the lengthy process of
deciding what eliments should be acted upon and how that can be achieved.
17th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Graham Green
Club go ahead with RHT inquiry. The Jockey Club has confirmed
that an inquiry will be conducted into its relationship with its wholly owned
subsiduary, Racecourse Holdings Trust. However a meeting of the Club’s
stewards failed to finalise the make up of the review. The move followed intense
criticism alleging potential conflict of interests between the Jockey Club’s
administrative function-wherein it claims to act for the best interest of racing
as a whole- and its status as racecourse owner via RHT. The issue came to a head
when BHB directors three of whom represented the Jockey Club – were voting on
the Go racing media rights deal.. Spokesman John Maxse said afterwards ‘The
Stewards of the Jockey Club met today and discussed the concerns raised, they
recognise the need to address those concerns and are considering the options on
how best to proceed. To early yet for an announcement to be made.
17th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Paul Haigh
Pakistan horror a chilling lesson for the abolutionists. A story
in last week`s Racing Post, taken up by the Sunday Times, will have sent a chill
down the spine of any horse-lover. In Pakistan, racing at Karachi racecourse has
effectively been suspended by the decision of the provincial Muslim government
to increase the licensing fee for the Karachi Race Club to a level that makes it
uneconomical for the sport to continue there. Horses have been just left there
derelect with no treatment for injury, not been fed and, most importantly, not
been properly watered in the ferocious summer heat’. Stable staff most of whom
have not been paid for months, are doing their best but haven`t got the money to
do the job properly, and as a result are having to go through the agony of
watching the animals, on whom they have been used to lavishing devotion, wither
away before their eyes. Two British Charities, the Brooke Hospital for Animals
and the International League for the Protection of Horses, are on the case, and
have sent a joint team headed by a retired Pakistani army general to do what
they can to alleviate the horses` suffering …..
16th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Richard Griffiths
Facing up to an uncertain future. The Government’s decision to
scrap the Levy Board has put a question mark over the future role of one of its
responsibilities, the National Stud. Griffiths examines the more controversial
possibilities being considered. There is strong concern that if breeding
operations involving Al, embryo transfer and other advanced technologies are
carried out on the same site as the National Stud, it would have a damaging
effect on current business. Unique organisation forced to ‘justify its existence’
Leading trainer John Dunlop, a director of the National Stud, admits that the
organisation is currently ‘ in a state of justify its existance’ But he
believes the continuation of the National Stud is important at a time when ‘there
has been a great reduction in the number of studs standing stallions in England
…. There aren’t that many horses on the market and very seldom now do you
find a top horse that is owned by an independent owner. We need some of the
leading owner/breeders who have not sent their horses to the National Stud in
the past to do so.
15th July 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth
Shock as racing misses out on tax-free benefits. Racing will
miss out on £1 million a month when betting duty is abolished on October 6
because of a controversial
14th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Oct: 6 the day betting tax will be abolished in Britain.
Treasury minister Paul Boateng yesterday named Saturday October 6 as the day
when betting duty will be abolished-an historic date for the diary of all
punters. Betting- shop punters will be able to bet without bookmakers making
deductions from their stake for the first time in more than 33 years from Oct:
6.
13th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Ladbrokes join Sky betting revolution. October start date
expected for joint venture to provide wagering via interactive TV” goes on to
explain what the deal means.
12th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Jon Lees
Paid officials to sit on racecourse stewards’ panels, from
next May. Stipendiary to give secretaries greater say in inquiry shake- up. ‘Consistent’
system has worked well in Ireland. Grid to show how stewarding compares around
the world.
07th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Mark Johnston
Stewards take shine off Star’s 21st celebrations. It was great
to see old Star Rage win his 21st flat race on his 98th start at Southwell on
Thursday but it was laughable, to say the least, to have the stewards’
secretary ask me if I had an explanation for the 11 year old’s improvement in
form. I have been very open in my criticism of the Jockey Club’s H14 and H19
instructions, which deal with horses running on their merits and require
trainers to try to give explanations for poor or improved performances. I could
be accused of being a little unco-operative, but is it any wonder when I get
asked stupid questions like that ?” ‘I appreciate the officials need to
ensure the integrity of racing but they show themselves up when they get it so
blatantly wrong’. Second quote “Rumours of Saturday night success greatly
exaggerated. The BHB ’s communications manager Alan Delmonte attended last
Saturday’s meeting at Lingfield , and by all accounts, hailed it as a great
success. A great success for who ? He tells us that based on this, and the ‘success’
of other Saturday evening fixtures, the BHB intends to build in extra evening
fixtures for the 2003 season. He does not, however, tell us what has changed to
improve the staffing situation which led the BHB to agree with trainers that we
could not manageSaturday night fixtures on the eve of Sunday racing. Perhaps he
is confident that, by 2003, the future funding plan will have kicked in and we
will be racing for proper money on a Saturday night. If so, I shall support it
wholeheartedly. I’ll race in the middle of the night if they will fund it
properly. But this meeting at Lingfield was not funded properly and it was not a
“success” for anyone other than Lingfield.
05th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Paul Haigh
Lessons to be learned from Pete’s generous response. It is
pretty hard to imagine the trainer treating the ranks of the press with quite
the same respect as Sampras in the midst of his disappointment.
05th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Roy Briggs
Jump Jockeys asked to co-operate in new whip trial.
05th July 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Wright Under the microscope the Vat registration scheme for
racehorse owners is due to come under Government scrutiny shortly. Howard Wright
talks tactics with Lord Donoughue, chairman of the BHB group set up to defend
the scheme. Donoughue: why withdrawal of Vat concession would be so damaging.
03rd July 2001 Racing Post Quote Seb Vance
The Jockey Club said yesterday that there were ‘lessons to be
learned’ for the bookmaking industry and about the way stewards’ inquiries
are handled, following Sunday’s controversial sequence of events at Doncaster
due to the inquiry delay.
02rd July 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Under the microscope, the debate over the display of prices by
rails bookmakers beat the Go Racing saga hands down for length and strength of
feeling. On January 1, boards on rails became a reality. Howard Wright examines
the situation 6 months on.
30th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Impartial input for RHT inquiry. Senior Steward Christopher
Spence is aware of concerns and said yesterday that a paper on the topic will be
prepared for the next stewards’ meeting on July 16th when the terms of
reference for and make-up of the inquiry are considered.
29th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Yesterday’s Racehorse Owners Association Annual General
Meeting. Gosden attack’s Club’s handling of rights vote, ‘embarrassing’.
The power is there for owners if they choose to use it. Without owners the
racecourse is an empty stage’. Gosden describes owners as ‘the sleeping
giants’. If the Media Rights deal is not the right one, if we do not get a
sufficient quantum leap in prize-money from the levy replacement, the giants may
have to awaken, and owners might have to reserve their media rights at the time
of entry”. Sir Eric Parker launches broadside at courses ‘The Go Racing deal
is not in the best interest of racing overall. The bottom line was a sell out to
the racecourses’. Peter Savill on Go Racing ‘British Racing has a history of
disunity, but I believe that the future funding plan is a basis not only of
unity but prosperity. Deal that represents a watershed for racing, ‘I am
confidant that we will never again see the sort of conflicts which have beset us
for the past 40 years’ ”. Owners urged to use their power as Gosden says
Sheikh is concerned about health of industry.
23rd June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
At last the £307m TV deal is agreed. Long - running saga comes
to an end as consortium agree terms with BHB. Future funding plan is agre Racing
Post Thur: June 21 Quote: Howard Wright: “Go Racing deal odds-on to be agreed
to-night. Major breakthrough over BHB’s last remaining point of contention.
Savill holds the key to saving deal –Spence”. ed by BHB board and the
industry will come together and we’ll have a better way forward in developing
the rights. I’m relieved to have got to this point, and we all feel
comfortable with the decisions’ BHB chairman Peter Savill. ‘We played a
dangerous game to land this deal’. Savill puts super bet back on the agenda.
22nd June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Savill pushes for BHB to accept media rights deal.. Revised Go
Racing offer under scrutiny in marathon Ascot meeting. What a day for Savill …Heroic
Gold Cup triumph with Royal Rebel trained by Mark Johnston. Crucial talks on
media rights …
21st June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Go Racing deal odds-on to be agreed to-night. Major breakthrough
over BHB’s last remaining point of contention. Savill holds the key to saving
deal –Spence.
20th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Last- ditch bid to save deal as Go Racing talks resume. Arena
‘clinging on by fingertips’ says source close to the negotiations.
19th June 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth
End of line for Go Racing deal inside story on the collapse.
18th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Racing holds it’s breath on TV deal. Concessions the crux of
the issue … deal hinges on crucial BHB meeting.
17th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Go Racing makes concessions in bid to rescue TV deal. Crucial
meeting to take place after series of on-off twists. The Go Racing deal sticking
points, Length of contract. Future technology. Price of date. Foreign racing.
16th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Alan Byrne and David Ashforth
Maktoums hit out at Go Racing deal and back Savill, ‘clearly
not in the best interests of racing’ All eyes on four who are likely to decide
vote. Mark Johnston is shocked by the latest twist in the media rights issue.
‘ Gloves off in the fight for racing’s interests.
15th June 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth
Bizarre move by senior steward Spence who attempt’s to force
BHB
14th June 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth
Media Rights deal is on the brink of collapse. Letter from Paul
Muelle Denmead Hants, BHB needs time out to put house in order the need to
reassess the workings of the racing industry. Mark Johnston is absolutely right.
The British horseracing is at a defining point in it’s history, with a very
grave danger that it’s future prosperity is being jeopardised by a relatively
small group of opportunists.
13th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Howard Wright
Midnight deadlines leave TV deal on a knife edge. BHB setback
after OFT announces inquiry. A monopoly complaint by William Hill over sale of
data … BHB secretary general Tristram Ricketts ‘confidant we can satisfy the
OFT.
12th June 2001 Racing Post Quote David Ashforth
BHB board addresses pre-race data terms. Levy replacement also
on agenda for discussion and vexed issue of funding.
05th June 2001 Racing Post Quote Bill Barber and Seb Vance
Trainers urge the scrapping of Go Racing rights deal.
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