PENROSE CALLS FOR GREATER UNITY

John Penrose, Minister for horse racing and betting, urged "racing and gambling to be facing in the same direction" to secure the future of the sport with a revised or abolished levy on bets.

Speaking at the inaugural Leaders in Racing conference, held alongside the Leaders in Football event at Chelsea Football Club, he warned: "Racing is a wonderful product at the heart of our sporting and cultural heritage and an important part of our economy - but its underpinnings are fraying at the ends, and it's causing a great deal of concern.

"Racing and gambling should be symbiotic in its discussions to redesign the levy system, or an alternative, for the 21st century, and even for the 22nd and 23rd centuries.

"A large amount of betting has moved off-shore, which is a logical and commercial reaction from bookmakers, but from racing's point of view it is a disaster.

"Racing and gambling need to negotiate like two suppliers, such as Proctor and Gamble negotiate with Tesco.

"When politicians get involved it can be a kiss of death, so it's up to racing and gambling to work together, with a little bit of prodding and pushing from me."

The conference attracted 200 senior leaders of the racing industry from over 20 countries around the globe to debate the business of horseracing.

British Horseracing Authority chairman Paul Roy echoed Penrose's views and said he was "hopeful" of a proper commercial arrangement between the two parties and that a "pre-consultation group had already held a handful of meetings".

International speakers from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Singapore Turf Club, Australia's Tabcorp, South Africa's Phumelela, and the US's Philadelphia Park and Parx Casino debated racing's declining market share of global gambling and the different business and betting models around the globe.

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, chief executive of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, raised four issues of concern - competition, brand perception, product supply and customer experience - and how racing jurisdictions need to be "vertically integrated" like Hong Kong.

Kim Heng Teo, of the Singapore Turf Club, echoed many speakers' views, by stressing the need to "bring out the emotive connection between the customer and the sport itself", rather than just betting.

Tabcorp's Paul Cross, in the session, Racing for the Punter, said that packaging all the UK and Irish races for international distribution through GBI Racing "was one of the best things UK racing has done."

UK Jockey Club Group CEO Simon Bazalgette painted an optimistic future for the sport in the UK, saying: "We've been doing some great things such as Racing for Change and the British Champions Series. Looking ahead to British Champions Day, it looks like we are going to have the best race day in the world.

"TV audiences are up 30% and 40%, attendances are up 5% and 6%. We are making progress and people want to get involved with racing more. You will see Channel 4 wanting to do more, and ITV, Channel 5 and other broadcasters are wanting to get involved as we have a great story to tell."

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