Tote betting shows serious drop

IN its first year of operation the IHA have had some serious teething problems, not least the loss of revenue through tote betting. In its review of racing statistics for 1995 the Authority claims its has halted the downward trend in bookmaking betting and has excused the decline in tote betting.

Tote betting was down 7.3 per cent. In 1994 the turnover was £19.5 million compared to last year's figure of £18 million. Clearly, many totalisator clients are dissatisfied with the paltry place returns on winning favourites - brought about by a significant change in the deductions from the tote pool last June.

It is true that the tote reduced its take out by 2 per cent to just over 20 per cent, but appears to have erred in making the deduction from the whole pool rather than from losing stakes. The tote aggregate has been down meeting after meeting since the Galway Festival, including the big six-day Listowel meeting.

But in its review the IHA claims there were a number of "extenuating circumstances" for the decline. The Authority claims that betting was affected by the protracted dry spell which extended into late autumn and resulted in many races having fields of less than eight runners. In the period June 1st to December 31st there was a reduction of 9.4 per cent in the number of races offering third and fourth place betting due to the shortage of runners. The IHA also points to the abandonment of three Leopardstown fixtures at Christmas as being responsible for half the total decrease in turnover.

Bookmaker betting turnover of £67.3 million was only marginally down on the 1994 figure (0.1 per cent) but compares poorly with the 1991 turnover of £85.1 million.

But, says the Authority, "the loss of six betting opportunities at Leopardstown (three through weather and three because of the bookmakers' boycott) detracted from what would otherwise have been a very encouraging year and a reversal of a downward trend which began in 1991".

It can be argued that the IHA confrontation with the course bookmakers in October over the proposed introduction of a betting shop at Leopardstown was not well timed, in that racing could ill-afford to suffer further loss of revenue which would be brought about by a boycott.

However, the turnover for three meetings at the newly established Tote Arena betting shop at Leopardstown amounted to £165,000. For the first time, racing collected a 10 per cent levy on "away" betting in the bookmakers' ring. This new IHA levy, introduced from October 28th, accounted for £225,320 in turnover, bringing an extra £22,500 in income to the industry. "There is potential for a substantial contribution from both of these new sources of income in future years," state the IHA.

Total attendances for 1995 exceeded one million an increase of 9,898 on the 1994 level. Individual courses with the best attendance performance include Roscommon (up 24 per cent), Wexford (up 15 per cent), Curragh (up 14 per cent) and Galway (up 9 per cent)

Total prize-money increased by 3 per cent to £13.1m. In 1995 the Authority's contribution to prize money increased to £5.9m, an increase of 10.8 per cent on the previous year's level. Sponsorship decreased by just £46,000, but there was a loss of £89,000 over the Christmas period.

The number of runners showed a decrease of 1,750 (8.4 per cent) to 18,987. The average number of runners per race dropped from 12 to 11. The number of race meetings held in the Republic increased by five to 232 while the number of meetings held in Northern Ireland was 17, one less than 1994. The number of horses in training was 3,910, down 174 on the previous year.

The total number of horses sold at public auction in Ireland decreased by 2.5 per cent from 1994, but there has been a decrease in the foal population in recent years. Total public sales aggregate decreased from £35.94 million to £35.03 million.