IN recent times major festival meetings have repeatedly underlined the struggle facing the on-course betting market and, in particular, the continuing uphill battle faced by the on-course bookmaking fraternity.

Thus it was somewhat heartening to see a slight improvement in the on-course bookmaker turnover at Punchestown earlier this month. Over the course of the last decade there has been a continuous and relentless slide in the bookmakers’ aggregate at major meetings so perhaps Punchestown represents something of a stabilisation, albeit at a low base.