BHA considers more bypass markers after Champion Chase confusion

The British Horseracing Authority will consider whether "additional directional markers" should be used at some fences in steeplechases to direct jockeys around an obstacle when it needs to be bypassed, following the dramatic scenes during last Wednesday's Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. In a letter to the Racing Post, to be published today, Jamie Stier, the BHA's director of raceday operation and regulation, will restate the authority's position that bypassing procedures which have been in place for the last 17 years were followed correctly, adding that "if there are any improvements to be made, then we will look at ways to do so". As a result, Stier says that "in light of last week's case, we will be discussing with all racecourses the option of using additional direction markers at particularly wide fences to alleviate any concern or confusion for riders." The remaining runners in the Champion Chase were required to bypass the final fence following the fall of Wishfull Thinking on the first circuit. Markers were first placed along the length of the fence as a warning, but then moved to protect the inside rail, where both Richard Johnson, Wishfull Thinking's jockey and Jean-Charles Briens, a photographer were being treated for injuries. Barry Geraghty and Andrew Lynch, the jockeys on Finian's Rainbow and Sizing Europe respectively, initially seemed unsure whether to bypass the fence and Geraghty in particular seemed to steer Finian's Rainbow towards the obstacle for a stride even as Lynch, on his inside, was taking him around it. Any horse that jumped the fence would have faced automatic disqualification. Geraghty said after the race that the concentration of markers towards the inside rail could have suggested that the jockeys should "jump the other half", even though the bypassing rules, introduced during the 1995/96 season say that the presence of any markers mean a fence must not be jumped. To avoid similar confusion in the future, it seems likely that some courses will need to invest in more than the minimum of three markers required per fence. Racing did not feature directly in the budget speech delivered by George Osborne on Wednesday, but supporters of a "point of consumption" charge as a means to capture revenue from offshore betting operators that currently escapes the levy system will have been encouraged to hear that betting duty will be charged on the same basis on bets placed through offshore firms from next year. The chancellor told the House of Commons that offshore operators, including major firms like Ladbrokes, William Hill, BetFred and, in the near future, Coral – "largely avoid" paying duty on the profits. This, he said, is "clearly not fair" and, as a result, the government will introduce a "tax regime based on … where the customer is based, not the company". The rate of duty to be paid will be announced following a consultation period, either in the autumn financial statement or next year's budget. The new regime will apply only to duty, however, and any attempt to acquire direct funding for the racing industry via a similar charge on racing bets placed through an offshore operator will require separate legislation. High street bookmakers expressed disappointment at the introduction of a new tax on the profits from fixed odds betting terminals, which have become a familiar sight in betting shops in recent years. Profits from FOBTs are thought to maintain the viability of a significant number of shops and any reduction in the overall number of shops in Britain would be expected to lead to a fall in the amount bet on racing. Dirk Vennix, chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, said: "We are disappointed that the government has introduced an unsustainable rate of Machine Games Duty and has not adopted a revenue-neutral rate for the whole machine gaming sector. It will put 2,600 betting shops and 11,000 jobs at risk."