TENSIONS between on-course bookmaker Brian Graham and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) resurfaced this week when Graham lodged a complaint with HRI over how the racing authority has handled the allocation of betting pitches in corporate areas for today’s Leopardstown meeting.

Graham claimed that on-course bookmakers were given insufficient time to prepare staff and operations for two available pitches in the Pavillion Restaurant corporate hospitality area.

Paul Finegan, betting division manager at HRI, sent out a notice to on-course bookmakers at 4pm on Monday regarding the availability of two pitches in the corporate area and four in a ‘premium’ area, for which the deadline for applications was Wednesday noon.

Speaking to The Irish FieldGraham said: “I didn’t apply for the pitches as I already have four staff in Listowel and we have seven staff going to Leopardstown to service our two pitches there.

“Our staffing, like any other business, is done weeks in advance. If I did apply, I wouldn’t have known until Wednesday afternoon at the earliest. Yet the Tote appear to have been given months of notice – the Pavilion package on the Leopardstown website has been advertising “tote betting facilities” since earlier in the year.

“HRI are fully aware of how many pitches each bookmaker would have at both Leopardstown and Listowel, and that it is highly unlikely that staff can be organised so last minute.

“So to summarise, Tote Ireland, a HRI subsidiary, has been informed by Leopardstown Racecourse, another HRI subsidiary, that they are required to service this area with months notice, but the HRI betting division, another HRI subsidiary, do not inform bookmakers until the last possible minute.”

Asked to comment, Finegan said: “I think it’s important to say at the outset that there were no complaints from the bookmakers association regarding the notice given.

“The first enquiry in relation to facilities for bookmakers to operate in the Pavilion corporate area in Leopardstown was made by the Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association on Friday afternoon, September 7th. The Betting Division of HRI was instructed by Leopardstown on Monday afternoon, September 10th, to offer facilities for two bookmakers to operate in the Pavilion Restaurant at which point an email was immediately sent to all bookmakers inviting them to apply for a position in the area.”

Last year Graham took out a High Court injunction on HRI over a similar issue which temporarily prevented the operation of bookmaker pitches in premium pitches.