“Don’t shoot the messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths” is a quote from Julian Assange.
I thought of it the other day when someone on social media was having a pop at a Racing Post journalist who took a gloomy view on the likelihood of Peterborough re-opening.
It was met by ‘you earn your living from greyhound racing, you should be talking it up!’
No! It doesn’t work like that. You end up sounding like Donald Trump.
Peterborough will be back, and it will be terrific. Just amazing. Better than ever. You will surprised how right I am. Terrific!
We have kept the Star website going during lockdown which has proven a three month window of opportunity to piss off all sides of the industry at one stage or another.
Prickly track promoters can be particularly difficult to deal with. Thankfully, they are in a very small minority. ‘We advertise on your website so we think you should always behave like our PR Agency’
No – that isn’t the deal!
There was great irritation from a couple of promoters following the release of GBGB’s blueprint for a return to racing – or precisely, the response to it.
The plan didn’t (immediately) include open racing and some trainers vented their spleens on this website.
Now I can understand why some of them would take huge exception to ‘THE promoters don’t give a damn about open racing – as usual’.
If I was a track operator, doing my best for my trainers (and retired dogs), I would be furious at this lazy labeling.
You wouldn’t judge all trainers the same, why do it with promoters?
(Remember the Fourth Commandment – Not all promoters are created equal.)
I think that overall, the GBGB has handled the Covid lock-down with massive credit. They took some heat over the return blueprint and naively telling the trainers how to prepare their dogs for trials.
Again – at least one promoter felt outraged that trainers were entitled to an opinion.
But from the instigation of the welfare payments, though to their dealings with Government, and the return to racing – GBGB has been exceptional in my view. And all done on ‘remote control’
(I understand questions are now being asked about whether it is a necessity to ask staff to commute into expensive Central London offices every day. A conversation that will probably be replicated in 10,000 boardrooms)
Conversely, the trainers were on-side when I mentioned their discussions about the option of staging the Derby at an alternative venue if Nottingham didn’t want it.
Much as we all surely want a televised, fully sponsored, fully attended English Derby, I love the idea that there was a significant body of owners and trainers prepared to finance it themselves to make sure that we didn’t lose it. More promoter outrage.
Yet I immediately had trainers on my back for a Graham Holland column suggesting that he would prefer an English Derby staged in October.
I took more flak for giving Ben Keith the opportunity to express his view, which was supporting the Nottingham management.
My point is – you cannot or should not attempt to suppress opinion. You will never succeed, though you could drive it underground.
Give everyone a chance to have their say, respectfully, and be prepared to listen to an alternative view.
All of which leads to an honest opinion, which many people will hate. It is not an endorsement, support or encouragement. But the fact remains, I cannot see the temporarily closed tracks re-opening – though I genuinely hope I am wrong.
Although Covid-19 will be cited as the reason for the closures, I think it will merely be the catalyst of something that was inevitable anyway.
For some time, greyhound racing has ceased to be a spectator dependent sport. Prior to lockdown, with the exception of the Crayford Saturday night card, every meeting of every SIS contracted track went into the betting shops.
Peterborough (one BAGS meeting) is the first guaranteed casualty to date, though I don’t think the odds look great for Poole (one and a half meetings), Belle Vue (two) or Shawfield (zero).
In the case of Shawfield, I am sure Billy King would be ready and willing to open in due course. Whether there will be any greyhounds in Scotland at that stage is a bigger issue – at least any not contracted to race in England.
Belle Vue and Poole are both rented. Belle Vue’s rent is (allegedly) £25K per month. Even if crowds were allowed back, they will be socially distanced.
For a business perspective, it makes no sense to re-open the place, and rather like the days of GRA, it makes more business sense to transfer meetings elsewhere.
Clive Feltham regularly shuffled his BAGS meeting around like a poker dealer. When you were left with no BAGS cards you were out of the game.
Although the Poole rent is guaranteed to be less than Belle Vue’s, so are it crowds. Transferring meetings to Swindon will give the Wiltshire track greater financial solidarity.
Just as valid is racing strengths. All the above were struggling for runners. Once that kennel strength dissipates, it is irretrievable. In my opinion.
Whether we get to ‘end game’ by design, by a media rights confrontation, or simply by evolution, the end game is eight broadcast races an hour – possibly from an 8am start to an 11pm finish – 120 races per day – less on Sunday.
Give or take – roughly 820 races per week.
Twelve tracks, each racing five times per week, 14 race cards, can produce 840 races.
Tell me I’m wrong.
I understand that digital turnover on greyhound racing has fallen way below expectations which must be causing some consternation for ARC whose deal with the bookies is (reputedly) based on revenue share.
Hence there is no immediate beneficiary in the Belle Vue closure. If you are losing money each meeting, do you really want extra meetings?
Although SIS tracks are also facing reduced fees, they do not appear to be as badly hit due to their fixed arrangement.
Of course, betting shops open on Monday, and the equations will all be reset.
That might have been the end of the story, but for a chance comment by Nottingham trainer Peter Harnden.
“I am not surprised that the on-line betting must be way down. I’ve been following the Betfair figures and they have really fallen. But the betting on Australian racing has gone through the roof.”
During lockdown, I have been contacted by representatives from both the Victorian and Western Australian racing authorities who had both noticed significant overseas betting increases on their product.
(Technically, their TAB betting isn’t available over here though I was told by one person, ‘Where it asked for home address, I gave an Australian one and it was passed.)
Peter said: “Like a lot of people, I started to get into Australian racing and it is brilliant. If you can’t make it pay on their racing, you’ll never make it as a punter.
“They make it so easy for you because TAB is pool betting and they don’t care who wins. Their priority is driving up turnover, and that means giving the punter every shred of info and video he could possibly want.”
