The British Horseracing Board has welcomed last night’s speech by the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club, Christopher Spence, at the Gimcrack Dinner in York as “”positive and constructive””.
BHB Chairman, Peter Savill, said:

“”The speech was a valuable contribution to the debate on some of the most important issues facing British racing.
“”The Jockey Club are to be applauded on their openly tough stance on criminal activity and corruption. Integrity is everyone’s number one priority, and any threat must continue to be vigorously tackled. The BHB will give the Jockey Club every support in its approach to Government.
“”We welcome the explicit recognition by the Jockey Club, as the owners of a significant number of the so-called ‘premier league’ racecourses, that those racecourses must work closely with the BHB on copyright and fixture matters and demonstrate that the fruits of any success are properly shared within racing generally. We are already in discussion with the RCA and racecourse representatives to see how inclusive talks on these key issues can best be structured in the interests of racing as a whole.””
BHB Chief Executive, Tristram Ricketts, added:

“”So far as General Betting Duty is concerned, we share the view that presenting a united front with the betting industry in discussions with Government would be the most effective way forward, provided we can agree an approach which takes into account the legitimate interests of all concerned.
“”We have had recent informal contact with the betting industry on this key issue and the BHB will be reviewing its position on GBD at its Board meeting next week.””