HORSE Racing Ireland has rejected claims that it has acted with bias against on-course bookmakers while showing favouritism to the Tote.

In an interview with The Irish Field this week, leading layer Brian Graham accused the governing body of failing to regulate impartially and fairly on all betting operators, namely on-course bookmakers and the Tote, and also said that HRI have done more damage to the betting ring than good.

In this week’s Big Interview (A8-9) Graham said: “(On course) bookmakers don’t need help. What they require is a level playing field to compete against Tote Ireland. As long as HRI regulate the bookmakers they should not be allowed to run Tote Ireland due to an obvious and glaring conflict of interest.

“Is it not highly irregular and unethical that the body that operates Tote Ireland is allowed to regulate the on-course bookmakers who it competes against on a daily basis?”

However, HRI’s betting division manager Paul Finegan countered: “The current system of licencing on-course bookmakers and Tote has operated for almost 75 years (since 1945) and it is not reflective of the on-course market to suggest that the bookmakers and Tote Ireland are in direct competition. They often cater for a different type of punter and together make the racecourse a friendly and safe place to bet.

“The Bookmakers and the Tote are not rivals, but rather need to work together to promote on-course betting and HRI will assist them and the racecourses to do so wherever possible.

“Three years ago HRI halved the annual permit fee paid by bookmakers from €500 to €250, and last year also halved the turnover charge payable from .5% to .25%. All of these charges are under constant review.

“We appreciate that modern technology has made the business of the on-course operators challenging. HRI believes that on-course bookmakers are an integral part of the raceday experience and to that end we continue to work with bookmakers and racecourses to investigate ways to improve their lot.”

On-course bookmaker ‘home’ betting turnover was as high as €202 million in 2007 but has been declining year on year since, to just short of €60 million last year.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN GRAHAM IN THE IRISH FIELD, AVAILABLE AS AN E-PAPER NOW OR IN SHOPS TOMORROW MORNING