The European Pattern Committee (EPC) has announced a string of changes to the sprint programme from 2015, designed to address the current lack of opportunities for high-class three-year-old sprinters. The measures include upgrades to races in Britain, France, Germany and Ireland, as well as the introduction of a new Group 1 three-year-old only sprint over six furlongs at Royal Ascot. …

In its weekly ruling newsletter, the Advertising Standards Authority has found against Betfred, 888sport.com, and Isiris Racing Services, which offers a horse racing tipster facility in the Racing Post. The independent regulator and watchdog said one of Betfred’s matched bet promotions, and 888sport’s “BagBigOdds” adverts, breached several articles of its CAP Code and were cited for Misleading Advertising, Qualification, and Significant Conditions …

William Hill‘s recent extension of single manning in betting shops has come in for criticism in the press after it came to light that employees have been working alone at night in almost three quarters of its retail outlets for four months as the bookmaker looks to tackle ‘rising costs’. The bookmaker said that total staff costs fell by 2% …

Revealing how one lucky punter turned €8 (£6.40) into €83,000 (£66,217), Paddy Power said it is still recovering from an almighty spanking at the Galway Races. “It is far from easy to pick the winner of the Galway Hurdle – one of the feature races of the seven-day long Galway Festival that is as lively off the track as on it. …

A William Hill customer has gambled £600,000 on a NO vote in the upcoming Scottish Independence Referendum. The company said the punter staked a record political bet of £400,000 in June, when the odds were 1/4, but has since returned to the same Hill’s branch in Surrey and added an extra £200,000 to his wager, this time at odds of 1/6. He stands …

Sportradar has penned an agreement with the Thai Premier League to monitor betting during the 2014 season. The association builds on the organisation’s existing partnerships in the region with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Football Federation Australia (FFA), and will see Sportradar scrutinise betting behaviour and patterns for all 380 games of the campaign, including those games that were completed earlier in the year. Speaking about …

New Zealand’s parliament has stepped up efforts to prosecute match fixers, as the country continues preparations to host the 2015 Cricket and FIFA U-20 World Cups. The Crimes (Match-fixing) Amendment Bill, which makes match rigging a criminal offence carrying a seven year prison term, passed its first reading at the end of July. “It is intended to address the most serious match-fixing …

The person responsible for stealing information relating to 649,055 Paddy Power customers is unlikely to face criminal prosecution. Instead, Canadian authorities have said the case is a civil matter and also declined to identify the individual. The Irish bookmaker said the full extent of the 2010 hacking episode became known to the company in recent months when it took legal action with the …

A year after acquiring tomwaterhouse.com, William Hill Australia said it has nearly doubled operating profit. The group’s interim results for the first six months of the year record gains in wagering, unique actives, and new accounts. Cost per acquisition was down 36 per cent during the same period. William Hill Australia now accounts for seven per cent of total revenue, …