As reported by the Racing Post, the racing consortium, which includes Arena Leisure, the Racecourse Holdings Trust and the Racecourse Owners\’ Association, may have to settle for control of the Tote\’s pool-betting monopoly rather than the whole company, with the Tote\’s 540 betting shops being taken on by a bookmaker, most likely Coral.
“Racing\’s great interest in the Tote is the pool-betting side of the business, which is a wonderful facility but can be improved,” commented David Thorpe, Chairman of the Racecourse Association. “That\’s what we\’re interested in bringing into the hands of racing. We\’d like to enhance, develop and invest in that side of the business.”
Elsewhere, Ladbrokes announced the acquisition of Duffy Bookmakers, a chain of 16 betting shops in Northern Ireland.
William Hill played down their absence from the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting as the company\’s Chief Executive, David Harding, told the Racing Post that the failure to send a representative to attend Europe’s premier Flat race on Sunday was due to commercial reasons and nothing to do with uncertainty caused by the arrest of two executives from an online gaming company in France two weeks earlier.
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