Jeremy Hunt lashes out at racing and bookmakers over failure to agree levy

Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, began his 44th birthday with a snarl at the racing and betting industries for their failure to reach an agreement in the levy negotiations that ended on Sunday night. Hunt must now act as arbiter, a role he clearly does not relish. "It's a big disappointment that the racing and gambling industries have failed to sort this out," he said today, "but frankly the government should never be the last resort in an essentially commercial negotiation. "We have therefore announced our intention to remove the role of the Secretary of State from determining the levy scheme in future and I hope this time will be the very last one that I have to be involved." A joint statement from racing's representatives blamed the bookmakers for failing to offer any improvement on an initial offer that had been rejected by the Levy Board six weeks ago. "It was very apparent that the only way determination could be avoided was if racing agreed to their wholly unacceptable initial submission," said the statement. A timetable for Hunt's determination has yet to be issued. On the last occasion when levy talks ended in deadlock, three years ago, the government's decision was issued the following February. Paul Hanagan is no bigger than 1-9 to be crowned champion jockey when the turf season ends on Saturday, having extended his lead over Richard Hughes to five wins. Hanagan had a double at Wolverhampton , while his rival drew a blank. Paul Nicholls said that he was "strongly considering" running Kauto Star against Denman in the Hennessy Gold Cup later this month, assuming that all goes well on his reappearance at Down Royal this weekend. "If he runs well on Saturday, then [his owner] Clive Smith is of the opinion that there is no use wrapping them in cotton wool at their age and fancies a crack at the Hennessy," Nicholls said. The trainer added that there would be enough time for Kauto Star to recover before attempting a record fifth win in the King George on Boxing Day. Coral introduced him at 8-1 in their Hennessy market.