BRITISH bookmaker Star Sports has entered the Irish on-course market by purchasing David Power’s rails pitch at the Curragh.

Power retired from the profession last month and all his Irish pitches were publicly auctioned at Naas Racecourse last week. Prices ranged from €240,000 for Power’s prime spot at Leopardstown to a mere €500 for his Tramore pitch.

Ben Keith, founder of Star Sports, paid €120,000 for Power’s Curragh slot. The influx of new blood into the betting ring was welcomed by Francis Hyland, secretary of the Irish National Bookmakers Association. He said: “Losing David Power is a big loss, so the arrival of Star Sports into the market is a very positive step. They sponsor the British greyhound derby and I understand they take big bets.”

The majority of Power’s pitches were acquired by existing bookmakers who wanted a second spot in some of the country’s bigger betting rings. Kevin McManus paid €240,000 for the Leopardstown pitch and €100,000 for the one at Galway.

Brian Graham paid €43,000 for the Naas pitch and Ron Wadey (Walsh Racing) gave €36,000 for Listowel. Pinnacle Bookmakers will take over Power’s Punchestown pitch (€27,000) and Damian O’Hare (Pat O’Hare) paid €23,000 for Navan.

Daragh Fitzpatrick acquired a second pitch at Gowran Park (€21,000), Roscommon (€7,000) and Tramore (€500).

“The business model nowadays is that you must have more than one pitch to survive,” said Hyland. “You need to increase your turnover to turn a profit and you can’t do that with one pitch. That’s the current thinking anyway.”

Power’s pitches at Ballinrobe and Clonmel failed to sell at auction and will be sold privately through Hyland, with any proceeds going to Irish Injured Jockeys.

The pitches were auctioned by Ronan O’Connor of local firm McEvoys and the event was attended by approximately 60 bookmakers, according to Hyland. O’Connor is due to auction Power’s British pitches in London on April 16th. These include prime spots at Cheltenham, Aintree, Newmarket, Ascot and York.