Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Wednesday, December 13
Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Wednesday's meetings at Hexham, Exeter, Leicester, Lingfield and Kempton.
Month: December 2023
Levy Releases Annual Report: Income Hits 100M, Betting Turnover Declines
The Horserace Betting Levy Board's (HBLB) 2022/23 Annual Report outlined that statutory Levy income to the Board was £100 million, the highest since the Levy collection reforms of 2017. The last two months of Apr. 1, 2022 through Mar. 31, 2023 term saw bookmakers' gross profits increasing significantly on the Board's projections taking into account the actual results to that point and historic comparisons.
Over the 12-month period, the Board reports of a continuing decline in turnover (amount staked) which was being partially mitigated by improved margins and gross win (amount retained by bookmakers), the basis on which Levy is paid. The trends have continued into 2023/24.
“Whether or not these trends in turnover and gross win will be sustained will become clear with time,” said Chief Executive Alan Delmonte. “While the short-term position provides reassurance in terms of income projection, the Board must however remain cautious because the underlying position is that turnover has declined over a sustained period. Ultimately, whatever the cause, falling turnover is unlikely to prove a positive for the sport's long-term health.”
Also outlined in the reports:
- The achievement of a small operating surplus in the year, in part due to the Board receiving from the Racing Foundation the second £3m of the £6m over two years generously contributed towards the Board's grants for people training and education initiatives.
- The publication of the Board's first three-year Business Plan, during 2022/23.
- The updated and enhanced processes for inviting, assessing and monitoring grant applications.
- The decision to increase transparency with the publication of the Board's race by race prize money contribution, providing greater visibility for the sport's participants about where the Board's prize money funds are directed.
- Saving an ongoing £100,000 per annum on administrative costs with the move to smaller office premises.
To view the Annual Report, click here.
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Harness Owner Howard Taylor Sues Jeff Gural for Defamation
On Nov. 3, Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural announced that the track was banning 33 trainers and owners, including Howard Taylor, after claiming that evidence and exhibits track officials were able to retain from the doping trials that had taken place over the previous months revealed a list of individuals who had purchased banned substances. An email sent to TDN listed Taylor as being among those who had allegedly purchased EPO.
On Tuesday, Taylor fired back. According to an email from Tilden Katz of Cozen O'Connor Public Strategies, Taylor has sued Gural alleging defamation and related crimes for his accusations that Taylor was purchasing EPO, which, Gural implied, he was supplying to his trainers.
Katz said that the statements Gural had made were untrue. “No facts, in either the Meadowlands press release or the article, supported the claim that Taylor ever gave Epogen to any of his trainers or that Taylor ever instructed any trainer to use Epogen on his horses,” Katz said.
The lawsuit, Howard Taylor v. Jeffrey Gural, was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Taylor is a lawyer based in Philadelphia who specializes in equine and horse racing related issues. He has one of the largest stables in the sport of harness racing, one that normally has about 170 horses.
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Walk In The Park Reigns At Goffs December
Walk In The Park (Ire) sired four of the six highest foals and the three top lots, as the Goffs December National Hunt Sale continued on Tuesday.
Ballincurrig House Stud consigned lot 294, a son of Appy Days (Ire) (King's Theatre {Ire}), and he caught the eyes of Gerry Aherne and Charles Shanahan for €90,000. His dam is out of G3 Nell Gwyn S. heroine A-To-Z (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}).
Said the colt's breeder Cathal Ennis, “I've had my fair share of setbacks and bred enough slow ones too. I'm not saying I'm successful at all, but if there's one thing I am very fussy about, rightly or wrongly, it's broodmare sires.
“I love mares by King's Theatre, Presenting, Saint Des Saints and so on. I set a lot of store by them. Look at Saddlers' Hall, who was disappointing as a sire, but his daughters were dynamite.”
Second on the list was Castlefarm Stud's son of Ard Abhainn (Ire) (lot 296), who sold for €80,000 to Kevin Ross Bloodstock and Killeen Glebe. His dam, a daughter of Jeremy, won a listed race over hurdles.
Rounding out the top trio was a bay colt (lot 226) from the draft of Thistletown Stud. Snapped up by Rathmore Stud for €80,000, he is out of the Shirocco (Ger) mare Valjan (GB), herself a half-sister to G1 Champion Hurdle winner Katchi (Ire) (Kalanisi {Ire}).
At the close of trade, 132 lots sold (58%) for a gross of €2,157,800. The average remained almost even with 2022's at €16,347, and the median rose €20% to €12,000.
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