BHA’s Nick Rust defends Racing Right as a “fair and reasonable return”

British Horseracing Authority Chief Executive Nick Rust insists racing is seeking a “fair and reasonable return” from bookmakers under the proposed new Racing Right.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the introduction of the new scheme in Wednesday’s budget, with the idea seen as the replacement funding mechanism to the 1963 Horserace Betting Levy. It would apply to all bookmakers, wherever located, who take bets from British customers on British racing and be administered directly by the racing industry.

The Association of British Bookmakers describes the Racing Right as “unworkable” but Rust, who was formerly a key player in the betting industry, has underlined the desire to set a “reasonable rate” rather than aiming to multiply revenues.

Speaking to At The Races, Rust Commented:

“First of all it is very good news that the government recognises the need to put in place a sustainable mechanism. I’m very keen that all parties look at this for the po tential that it can offer in the medium term.

“The Levy Board does a really good job, but unfortunately they can only act within a statutory framework which governs what they can and can’t do. Unfortunately, whilst the Levy has stood the test of time for the last 50 years, probably for the last 10, since the digital age came about, it is not an effective mechanism.

” As we saw at Cheltenham last week, it is pot luck whether your bet is contributing towards the funding of British racing depending on which bookmaker you bet with as offshore bets are outside the system”.

“The Racing Right gives us the opportunity to work directly with bookmakers and set a reasonable rate with them to authorise betting on British racing and hopefully build the dialogue between us moving forwards.

“It is not new to look to see how we move on from the Levy system and we have proposals to allow us to effectively implement this.

“The statement made yesterday by the Chancellor suggests there is the confidence in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and within government that a workable solution can be implemented.

“I think the major issue for the bookmakers is a cost for them of such a right and I want to reassure them we are looking for a fair and reasonable return.

“Anyone who offers bets on British racing will pay an authorisation right – we are not looking to treble revenues and I am acutely aware of the business models of betting shop business and digital business.

“After the election, we would hope we can press forward with the machinery of the legislation to put this in place, but we will still almost certainly have one more Levy year.

“There is still time for the bookmakers to make a proposal, which if British racing was prepared to accept, would give a lot of comfort as to the sort of level being looked for under the new system.

“The great thing about this is that there is a lot of cross-party support.We are not being complacent, we still need a big effort to move it forward, but I think this was a very big statement that the government is prepared to move it forward. It will be managed by a cross-sport representative body, not just the BHA.”