Bookies must row in to make sport self-financing

JOHN OXX clearly wasn’t happy with what he felt was the disdainful attitude of the chief executive of Paddy Power Bookmakers towards Irish racing at the Oireachtas meeting on funding for racing on Wednesday. Proof of that was the open letter John subsequently sent to the racing press.

How Patrick Kennedy could say Irish racing was second class when you’ve had Aidan O’Brien as champion trainer in England and as well as Ireland, we’ve had the Horse of the Year for two of the last four years and racing is so competitive here I don’t know.

I don’t like the angle they use either about quoting the €€540 million that racing has been given over the last 10 years. A lot of that is capital grants that have gone to improving the facilities.