ODDS AGAINST
Racing returns but on-course bookies facing long struggle
“This year is a wipeout. I’ve written it off”
“I want to keep all the bookies in business”
NEXT Monday at Naas marks the return of horseracing, a frontline Irish sport. At one level, it will be like any other race meeting. There will be trainers, jockeys, valets, stewards, press, TV cameras and plenty of horses.
A core constituent, so essential to racing, will be marked absent: the on-course bookmaker.
These are the hardy folk who rock up on the rails near the winning post, invariably with satchels and step-ladders to hand, and call the odds, in all weathers.
The bookies operate a cash business, increasingly rare in today’s world of credit cards and Revolut.
Their numbers are down to 80 or so, yet they are a hardy crew and as integral a part of racing as ‘the white flag is raised’ and ‘winner alright’.
Already, three months have been lost on the outside looking in: their comeback date under the current roadmap return is August 10. So, what next for those who deal in dockets and dreams?
‘The year is a wipeout. I’ve written it off in my head,’ says leading layer Daragh Fitzpatrick. ‘If we get back, we get back. To what, I’m not exactly sure. I’m not going back to stand in front of a hundred people.’
A 30-year bookie, Fitzpatrick banks on a turnover in excess of €1million from the Punchestown and Galway Festivals alone.
On a profit return of six to seven per cent, those big meetings are what keep him in front.
Only this year, it’s about riding out the Covid-19 storm. It costs over six figures to pay for a decent pitch at the likes of Punchestown, Galway and the Curragh, tracks which are magnets for punters who like to have a bet.
Fitzpatrick paid good money for them, but they are worth considerably less now, especially as they sit idle.
The Galway Festival a traditional money-spinner, has been shoe-horned into three days but neither layer nor punter will be permitted on site, as the restrictions stand.
Living in Robertstown, Kildare, Fitzpatrick is a short drive to Naas, the Curragh and Punchestown but can’t call the odds at any of those tracks either for another two months, under the current guidelines.
The Irish Champions Weekend in mid-September generates decent business but two poor days allows little time to recover in what’s left of the season.
Meanwhile, betting shops are opening again on June 29, which is good news for some, if not the on-course layer.
Fitzpatrick is fearful that a lot of folk ‘who’ve been at home watching racing behind closed doors decide to open up online accounts, and then stay away from the tracks’.
Under the rules, the over-70s won’t be declared to run, which is another potential handicap. ‘We’ve a lot of elderly supporters at the track, who like to have a bet. They can’t go either.’
For many racegoers, the authentic race-day experience is the pre-race theatre on the rails, hearing the hawkers cry, checking the odds and then thrusting forward before the off. It may be a tenner on the even-money favourite, or €500 on a 33/1 outsider but the thrill of the chase in the bookies’ trenches is deep in racing’s soul.
‘It’s part of the buzz of racing to go down to the ring, see a price, have a bet and get paid in cash when you win,’ says Fitzpatrick, who is not afraid to lay a decent wager.
For Ray Mulvaney, as chairman of the Irish National Bookmakers Association, the challenge is to keep his members up and running. ‘There is talk of casualties but I want to keep all the bookies in business.’
Mulvaney has his members on a Covid-19 footing for a racecourse return.
‘We’ll have perspex screens and it would be great if the distance was reduced to a minimum.
‘We’ve always been a cash business but our members are ready to adapt.’
Mulvaney reckons his turnover will be down over 60 per cent as he reflects on lost pitches at Aintree, Punchestown, Chester, Newmarket and Royal Ascot – he is one of the few Irish bookies on the rails in England.
Mulvaney is up for ‘a review of the roadmap’ regarding gatherings at sports events and finding a way for bookies to be present again at racecourses.
Apart from striking bets, the layers provide betting shows and SP returns, a crucial service.
‘If 1,000 people were allowed in at Leopardstown on a Thursday night, we’d have 10 bookies there. If there were 2,000 permitted, we’d have a few more.
‘The likes of the Curragh and Leopardstown have lots of room for people to keep their distance.
‘If we can get a small number of bookmakers back to the tracks, our data will be available. This may happen if the roadmap is accelerated.’
Mulvaney fears for attendances, and also the bookies’ business, should the over-70s remain on the outside of racing.
‘That would be a concern, especially at the Listowel Harvest Festival in September where there would be a more mature audience of racegoers.
‘It’s good to see racing back again in France and England, and the return here is also welcome.
‘We’d like the next step forward to take into account the future of the on-course bookies,’ added Mulvaney.
Calling the odds at the track has been every bit as important to racing as calling the horses.