My interview with government minister at Cheltenham shows confused message around damaging affordability checks

9 months ago 76

SO what’s really going on with affordability checks and the destruction of British racing by the ongoing discussions in Parliament?

Last week at Cheltenham I spoke to dozens of people and enjoyed all the interviews, particularly a 10-minute wrap with Willie Mullins which is out there on the ITV Racing social media feed.

Our man interviewed the minister for sport at Cheltenham[/caption]

However, without doubt the most important chat I had for ITV was with Stuart Andrew, the current Minister for Sport.

Andrew suggested that the current nightmare being inflicted by affordability checks on punters are almost self-inflicted and unnecessary.

He said to me: “I recognise at the moment there is an inconsistent approach (with bookmakers online) going on when people are putting bets on.

“I want a much more streamlined approach.The affordability checks that are happening now are nothing to do with Government. We haven’t put in any legislation yet.”

It’s something that punters frequently ask me. Why are their checks when the Government haven’t requested them?

Well it’s down to the Gambling Commission.

Bookmakers have been told by the Commission that they have to carry out checks.

Which means what Andrew has suggested is very odd.

Somewhere along the line there is a different message being sent out by Government compared to the Gambling Commission, and yet they both should be working in harmony.

To change the current status quo both have to start singing from the same sheet.

Why do British owners have horses in Ireland rather than the UK? That is another question people ask me, and of course has reared its head once again after the raiders did so well at Cheltenham.

We don’t have all the answers and everyone will have different reasons, but one lady who is never slow in coming forward with her opinion is Dash Grange Stud supremo Jayne McGivern, the owner of class stallion Golden Horn.

McGivern took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote the below:

It’s there for all to see. But what will the BHA do? Probably nothing,

If racecourses can’t sort out parking and wifi how it makes you fear that they have more power than anyone else in this great sport.

I have written about atrocious wifi on courses for years – the last time was in this column in May 2022 when my intro read “Sort your public wifi out racecourses. In most cases it’s absolutely pathetic.” Basically nothing has changed.

Cheltenham was a shambles with the network simply not good enough. There is no excuse.

It’s not just Cheltenham. I was at Chepstow yesterday with 4500 students all on their phones and the wifi was pants.

It’s the basics that make all the difference to racegoers. Wifi should be available and work as a matter of course. Sort it people. I’ll enjoy writing this again in two years when nothing changes.

Finally, a great result in this column when Galopin des Champs landed the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup for the second time.

You may remember I wrote this in November after his defeat early in the season – I hope you all lumped on at the fabulous odds that day of 3-1. Yeeehaaa!