DARAGH Fitzpatrick is something of an outlier in the bookmaking field in that he is one of a handful of on-course operators making business pay.

Recent figures released by HRI confirm the continuing decline of the ring. Turnover of betting with on-course bookmakers is down 11.5% from €29.5 million to €26.1 million. That makes it most likely that the annual figure will be below last year’s €59.5 million, which would mean a decrease on turnover for an 11th consecutive year from €202 million in 2007.