Like a poker player who believes he has the winning hand, Towcester have seemingly laid their cards on the table in their bid to win the rights to stage the English Derby writes Floyd Amphlett.
Their outspoken race caller and racing journalist Matt Chapman appeared to be bating a specially created GBGB committee who will make the final decision, in his column in the Sun newspaper on Saturday.
There are known to be three contenders, Central Park, Sheffield and Towcester. Central Park have not yet revealed whether they have a sponsor. Sheffield’s John Gilburn stated last week that his track were ‘still in negotiations’ over a backer, while Towcester are thought to have Star Sports, plus others, in the wings.
There is a fourth alternative, the event to be sponsored by RPGTV and then awarded to one of the three tracks.
Chapman revealed some details of the Towcester bid which would guarantee £179,000 to the winner in a three-year £1m deal over the track’s 500m course. He also intimated concerns of a potential stitch-up by the notoriously opaque GBGB. The ethos of his statement was ‘this is the Towcester deal, if you are going to award it elsewhere, you had better be able to justify yourselves.’
What Towcester (or the others) haven’t revealed are their broadcasting and media rights plans, which could feasibly be based around the The Racing Partnership group of independent bookmakers, or others, rather than mainstream providers of RPGTV, BAG/SIS.
Anything else appears financially inconceivable. The betting industry are the main beneficiaries of major events but individual sponsors, such as William Hill and Blue Square, always faced the issues of other more active on-line trading companies such as Bet365 and Betfair obtaining a ‘free feed’.
Can Sheffield or Central Park stay in the game, are RPGTV prepared to match Towcester’s £1m?
It is game on – and thanks to Chapman, it is now in the full spotlight.
