22/0300: The members of the Turf Club fired several warning shots across Charlie McCreevy's bows at their general meeting on the Curragh yesterday.
The Minister for Finance has promised racing what he calls a carrot and which looks at first glance like a huge golden egg. Racing will get the betting tax (bar a million or two that will be paid to the greyhound industry) if the Irish Horseracing Authority, the Turf Club and the Association of Irish Racecourses agree to merge.
Last year the tax amounted to £53 million and so racing would receive a huge increase on this year's £18 million government grant.
But Sam Waller, a former senior steward who spoke at the meeting, calls it a diseased carrot.
He said:'It won't be a carrot at all in a few years time. The serious punter will not be betting in the betting shop but on the internet to an offshore base which will not pay tax to the government and therefore not provide anything to racing.
'Furthermore digital TV will soon be available to everybody. The punter will be able to put the internet on his TV, get the odds on the screen at the press of a button and also bet tax-free - and the amount of money going to the government will be less than what racing gets now.'
The Turf Club issued a two-page statement after the meeting, setting out various caveats and reservations. The primary one concerns its own function of exercising racing discipline in such a manner that the public has confidence in the way racing is run.
The IHA has drawn up an outline proposal setting out how the amalgamation of the three bodies would work and has pointed to a saving in administration costs. But the Turf Club members made it clear that they consider the saving small beer and not worth the candle in comparison with what they believe will be a lessening of their own role.
Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of the Turf Club, said: 'We deal with the registry office (entries, declarations, etc), the officials on the track and the rest of the integrity services. The IHA looks after Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, the Tote and the IHA-owned racecourses. The AIR has its own separate responsibilities.
'It's just not like merging three companies who are producing the same product. There was agreement among the members that the industry should be run in the most effective manner but the membership concluded that the potential for cost savings was of a limited nature.'
But the real stumbling block with the bulk of the members was the integrity issue.
Kavanagh said:'The primary concern of the Turf Club is the integrity of racing. The principal functions of the Turf Club, as outlined in the 1994 Irish Horseracing Industry Act, are to regulate racing, to make and enforce the rules, and to promote integrity and fair play within racing.
'The Act gives statutory recognition to the fact that the regulatory body should be separate from, and independent of, the body responsible for the development and promotion of the industry.
'But the members stated that the IHA outline proposal did not take account of this fundamental principle - and the Turf Club cannot accept that the proposed diminution of the regulatory role would benefit Irish racing.'
The meeting finished with the stewards being 'mandated' to engage in further discussions.
Kavanagh added: 'The members noted that these discussions must be based on the support and consensus of the many different interests in the industry, and should ensure that those aspects of the industry which are working well at present are protected and strengthened.'
What he meant was the Turf Club's regulatory role. The members have laid down their markers. The IHA - and the Minister for Finance - will now have to deal with their concerns if the plan is to regain its momentum.
