“The world doesn’t change in front of your eyes, it changes behind your back.” – Terry Hayes

In a world of information overload and the proliferation of clickbait, it is easy to miss key changes in our lives.

Disseminating fact from fiction has never been more difficult. But just as import is pausing to assess the often hugely significant results of many combined smaller actions.

 

Today’s announcement that the world’s biggest bookmaker Bet365 has signed a five year deal with SIS for greyhound racing may not seem totally significant to anyone who has been told that their account has been closed or their £20 bet has been cut to £3.17.

However, today’s statement suggests a couple of things to me. First, the media rights battle between ARC and SIS is not about to end any time soon. Certainly not in the next five years – thank God.

(Bear in mind SIS also have a five year deal – to Feb 2026 – to supply picture to Racing Post TV.)

Secondly, it is a reminder that as much as the bookies bleat that they don’t want to pay for two services, they actually do. That leverage of playing one media provider against a rival offers greater security than seeing one side gain a monopoly.

That matters a great deal to greyhound racing because if either ARC or SIS were to prevail, we would be left with half an industry and trainers once again cutting each others throats for a contract.

 

Looking back, equally as important, but with effects that took longer to filter through, was the ARC hike in prize money last September.

Their tracks had been underfunded compared to SIS but the lumpy increase was a game changer. Individual contract details are confidential though a figure of a ‘40% increase’ for some is often quoted once ‘runner bonus’ is included.

But even on prize money increases, the figures are significant. Last August, an ARC owned track like Nottingham was paying £110 for an A5 winner and £35 ‘others’. By September those figures had risen to £135/£50.

But the figures were even more dramatic for the independently owned ARC tracks:

Kinsley A5. £65/£20 became £110/£45

Swindon A5. £70/£25 became £110/£52.

Yarmouth A5. £62/£28 became £110/£45.

The industry wide raising of incomes was bound to have an effect, though it isn’t necessarily one that most of us might have anticipated.

Rather than simply chasing the bigger pay-out, a lot of kennels chose lifestyle. When Elaine Parker was offered a mega bucks by Sheffield, she and son Sean chose to run for a bit less at Doncaster.

Kevin Hutton elected to reduce his kennel strength rather than continue as a long distance greyhound delivery service to Monmore. And the opening of Suffolk Downs will see a sharp decline in business for the service department at Jim Daly’s local garage. Many other trainers are quietly going a similar route.

But that is the one aspect that the corporate accountants would never find a column for on their spreadsheets. This industry was never about being rich, it was about surviving and trying to enjoy your racing.

 

There have been many other adaptions as extra cash started to reach the industry grass roots. One change already widely acknowledged is a growth in trainers buying their own dogs.

While some may roll their eyes at the very prospect, it was surely an inevitability as 14 hour racing schedules became the norm?

But there has been another spin-off that possibly doesn’t get appreciated, the decline of minor opens.

Even prior to the hike in diesel prices, trainers, who were now often owners themselves, started to balk about four hour round trips for prize money barely better than had they stayed graded at their home track.

Yet if you look at the figures, the total number of open races has barely fallen. The reason is the growth of competitions.

We had a quick check back to 2019 (2020 comparison was impossible due to the first Covid lockdown).

There were marginally fewer minor opens this year compared to then – 151 v 161. But as the table below shows, there are now many more valuable events in the Calendar than ever before – and it isn’t by accident.

Kevin Boothby has upped the Cat One ante with the re-opening of Towcester. Entain have responded with their £20K Premier events and let’s not ignore the efforts of ARC. Following the return of the Northern Puppy Derby and Northern Flat, this year we will see a return of sensible prize money (£10K) for the Grand Prix.

All of which will precede Suffolk Downs and Oxford unveiling roughly another ten Cat One events in the coming weeks.

I know this never goes down well with dog folk – but let’s see if we can raise a bit of positivity here!

Last but not least – a smile courtesy of our old friend and former RM Simon Harris:

“Having caught up with an old pal in the pub recently and reminiscing over old times at Hall Green, it brought to mind how much things had changed since the late 80’s early 90’s in particular regarding the immediate accessibility of form and race results, as well as being able to watch racing live without attending the track.
“A classic example of this goes back to an era when stadiums would not even give out race results over the telephone and anyone body ringing up to ask would be told ‘if you want to know the results you should come to the track and pay to get in like everyone else!’.
“Anyone old enough to remember the dog scene in Birmingham around that time would of heard of an owner and fearsome punter by the name of Arthur Kain. Arthur was more a Perry Barr regular but would occasionally have a dog at Hall Green with Bertie Gaynor, but any appearance by Arthur at the track would send the bookies running for cover and as such Arthur resorted to turning up in the car park and sending his man into the track to ‘have on’.
“Not one to miss out on watching the race he would bring a small stool with him and view precedings from over the perimeter fence adjacent to the first bend.  Having cleaned out the bookies on a few occasions, the bookmakers became wise to these goings on and if they thought Arthur might have a runner on the card they would position a couple of ‘lookouts’ in the car park to spot Arthur’s possible arrival.
“Unfortunately this situation turned into a farce on one subsequent occasion, when a late arriving owner spotted  people lurking about in the car park and used the stadium pay phone (remember those?) to call the police to report people acting suspiciously around the cars, which resulted in a van load of Birminghams finest boys in the blue along with the stadium security team rushing to the scene. Pity no record of statements taken from those concerned are available as I’m sure they would of  made interesting reading.
“Happy days.”
Simon