Gm, Equinauts

THIS. HAS. BLOWN. OUR. MINDS.

Okay, so David Rossington should be there, and Sheree Howard — given her insurance background — will probably have a good understanding of the consequences of bottlenecking gambling revenue across the wider industry.

But the rest?

WTAF.

If this was about reforming the scandalous behaviour of dirty bookmakers, then yeah, probably not the worst line-up.

But that lot representing the punter?

Probably not.

And for what it’s worth, this has nothing to do with there being seven women and only two men on the board (although we’d still like to see that balanced). We understand the Board represents the wider gambling industry, including sectors like bingo and the lottery, where female participation is far higher than many assume.

The issue is simply that much of their professional experience appears extremely uncommercial. That’s our problem.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

🧓THE OLD GUARD

Ignore the emoji in the headline, the main protagonist of this article actually has no hair, but we used it more to represent the return of The Old Guard and that’s because Peter Savill is attempting a return to the top of British racing governance after gaining backing from more than 200 figures within the industry to become the next BHA chair.

Savill previously chaired the BHB (before it became the BHA) from 1998 to 2004 and is widely regarded as one of British racing’s strongest commercial leaders. During his time as chairman, racing’s betting income and prize money grew significantly, while he pushed major commercial deals with bookmakers. Although sometimes seen as combative, many in racing still view him as an experienced industry-first operator who prioritised the sport’s financial strength.

Savill says racing needs experienced LEADERSHIP to deal with major issues currently affecting the sport. He believes the industry lacks direction and wants the BHA to take a stronger stance on affordability checks, which he says are damaging both racing and betting turnover.

His proposed plans include reviewing the fixture list and levy distribution (BOOM!), improving cooperation between racing and bookmakers, and ensuring future BHA leadership has proper racing knowledge and a clear strategy.

Savill also opposes the idea of a fully independent BHA board, arguing the current structure already provides independence while still allowing racecourses and horsemen to have representation.

He says racing is in a difficult position and needs decisive leadership with a clear vision to help stabilise and strengthen the industry.

Sounds good to us.

More:

🐎 SALES CHAT

Dan Skelton secured the headline purchase of the sale after bloodstock agent Tom Malone spent £360,000 on the highly regarded KAISER BALL, who will now head to Skelton’s yard. The horse had shown strong bumper and hurdles form linked to multiple Grade 1 performers, with Malone describing him as a potential top-class Cheltenham horse.

Gordon Elliott was also heavily active at the Goffs sale, adding several expensive prospects to his Cullentra House stable. Among them were COOL COMPANION, bought for £235,000 after strong competition from the O’Neill team, and CERTAIN ESCAPE, secured for £170,000 by agent Aidan O’Ryan. Elliott and O’Ryan finished among the leading buyers of the day with eight purchases costing a combined £440,000.

Nicky Henderson and agent Jerry McGrath bought three horses for a total of £375,000. Their leading purchase was TACTIC at £160,000, while they also secured LASTBUTNOTLEASED for £135,000. McGrath said Henderson particularly liked the physical scope and long-term potential of the filly TACTIC.

More:

⭕A LOOK AHEAD

Today we’re going to look ahead to the SILVER BOWL HERITAGE HANDICAP on Saturday (14.20). The ante-post market has PRINCLING topping the market but we’ve eyed up a bigger price who is interesting should he run.

PRINCLING reps Shaggas and is a short 5/1 for this. Admittedly he did look good last year and that Newmarket run last year reps good form and subsequent winners. KINGMAN clearly has injected speed into his pedigree which is stacked with stamina. Fairly unexposed and Shaggas has been purring over his 3yo’s this year.

CREST OF FIRE has definitely shown he trained on by hacking up on seasonal return, and one might suggest on that basis there could be some juice in his mark as an improved 3yo but he didn’t beat much and his pedigree says limited.

LAUREATE CROWN is 2 from 2 this season but was lucky to win last time out at Sandown. He’s by new sire VICTOR LUDORUM who we are still learning about, out of a dam with deep Juddmonte ped. We think his form can be taken on.

LIGHTING THUNDER is by, yep you guessed it, gun sire NIGHT OF THUNDER. His dam was a Group winner, so given pedigree, he could be well in 89. He was looked after by Havlin on his seasonal reappearance but still got the job done, almost easily.

More to come and Gosden knows how to win this race.

ASTRAZAR got going late in the season last year. Probably needed the run last month but there are better horses than him in this race.

LANGSTONE should have been a bet in March and in April. We knew he was good but we thought he might have needed the run at Donny. So annoying. He is a Group horse. He’ll love the step up to a mile but we just hope the heatwave doesn’t dry Haydock out. We think it might be good soft which will be absolutely fine.

Of the rest, ST ANTON was a bet last time out - another good winner for the newsletter. Looks a big horse, could be more to come but we’ve had our money from him so might look to take him on.

BLUE COURVOISIER has been expensive to follow since his debut.

We don’t like the rest.

Verdict: LANGSTONE for Cox at 12’s look a naughty price given what we know. It could be between him and LIGHTING THUNDER.

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