KEVIN ACKERMAN

“Would I do anything differently? Maybe a couple of things, but ultimately I know we were on the right track. In the end, unfortunately the finance just wasn’t there to keep it going. We came very close but just failed at the last hurdle.”

It is just over five weeks since Towcester went into administration and former Towcester CEO Kevin Ackerman admits to spending most of it in isolation from outside communication.

So what went wrong and was the project, as predicted by many, doomed to failure since the beginning?

Ackerman said: “Absolutely not. I wholeheartedly believe we were on the right path and despite criticisms which seem mainly to centre around not charging admission or too many staff.

“These factors, even if there was merit in them, wouldn’t have affected the outcome to any significant degree. This venture was always about exploitation of our media/betting rights and every other revenue stream was a minority contributor in comparison.

“When I first approached Lord Hesketh about the concept of introducing greyhound racing, he immediately saw the significant potential and could not have possibly done anymore to support the venture. It was a vision that we not only felt would change the fortunes of Towcester Racecourse, but would also change the future of a sport, which was in desperate need of re-invigoration.

“It was always a project that needed significant finance by the company shareholders and they duly agreed to provide that support.”

“Unfortunately, as time passed and there were further requirements for financial support due to under-performing media rights agreements, which mainly centred around Ladbrokes/Corals and Betfred’s refusal to take the TRP betting shop service.

“It came to a point where there was no immediate likelihood of us making a profit in the short-term, and the shareholders could not further justify supporting the business.

“I believe that the whole project, including the building of the track (£1.8m) probably saw a total investment including accrued losses of over £5.5m.

“Despite the immense disappointment I felt at the closure, I understand and respect their decision, they had to carry out their duties as they saw best. I can’t help thinking though how it could have been so different.

“On reflection, when Lord Hesketh initially made the significant commitment to create, what we believed to be the best greyhound track in the UK, with a new vision of the future, we, perhaps naively, expected to be embraced and supported by the greyhound and betting industry.

“We weren’t. In fact, there were some within the industry who were obstructive to what we were trying to do and certainly made our life more difficult than it needed to be.

“We discovered quickly that greyhound racing was very different to horse racing in what the betting industry expectations were. The main difference being, that in horse racing, we as the promoter put on the show and the bookies form the betting market.

“In greyhounds, you not only have to be the promoter but there is also an expectation to provide a certain level of gross win margin return to the bookmaking industry.

“Putting in simply, at no stage as a horserace course did a betting organisation ever phone up and tell us they were unhappy with the margins.

“Maybe we were naive about that too, but it is something I still find highly questionable and perplexing.”

“Ultimately, we found ourselves in a media rights deal that unfortunately did not deliver the expected level of returns that we had hoped, and at least not in the timescale that we crucially needed.

“But make no mistake, had we been on a similar deal to any of the other SIS or TRP aligned tracks, we would have been making a significant annual profit, not a loss, and the shareholders would not have been forced to draw stumps. It really is that simple.”

So what time-scale or extra injection of cash would it have taken to turn the Hesketh/Ackerman vision into a reality? Another million pounds?

Ackerman replied: “It is hard to say precisely, but yes, somewhere close to that figure.

“Our contract with TRP was due to expire in December 2019 and I believe we would have been in a position to either negotiate a more lucrative contract, or even go it alone and deal directly with the customer.”

So do you think Towcester has a future as a greyhound track and would you want to be part of it?

Ackerman said: “Why wouldn’t it stage greyhound racing again. Everything is there to go ahead and I believe it is one of the best greyhound facilities in the World. As to whether I would want to be involved again, I really don’t know. Much would depend on who was running it and their scale of ambition.

“Certainly I could imagine the venue as a high quality open race stadium. In fact, I believe, if I had my time again, we would have focussed on open racing and would maybe not have been so focussed on the now saturated and over-supplied graded model.

“Open racing naturally brings out the very best in the sport and I strongly believe it is a much underestimated and under-valued part of the industry.

“Without being arrogant, I think that we eventually established a strong enough reputation that we could have continued to trade, given adequate prize money as an exclusively open race venue.”

“Overall, despite the abrupt and swift nature in which the racecourse closed and the understandable shock and disappointment felt by many, I believe Towcester gave a glimpse of what the great sport of greyhound racing can look like, when it’s properly presented.

”We at least attempted to lead an evolution of the sport which seemed at the time set on managing a terminal decline.”