Believe the hype? You bet, say Hills
WILLIAM HILL are providing only selective information about the extraordinary £500,000 bet to win £100,000 on record-breaking hurdler Big Buck’s, which is being viewed with disbelief by rival firms.
Other bookies, not averse to excessive hype themselves, are outraged by the extra yards Hills went to gain publicity during the Grand National meeting by making allegedly overly-ambitious claims about their share of the market.
These include not only the disputed Big Buck’s bet last Thursday, which Hills will only say was struck by one of their clients via a credit card in a High Street betting shop in the south of England, but also the Hills estimation that £1billion would be wagered with them during FA Cup semi-finals and National week.
Ladbrokes’ David Williams said: ‘ This is irresponsible; it’s got out of hand.’ David Stevens of Coral, added: ‘One betting firm is out on its own with the publicity tactics it’s pursuing. At least the rest of us have a semblance of truth in what we claim.’
William Hill’s Kate Miller, who had a scanned copy of the 1-5 odds-on betting slip supplied by the company’s trading chief on her laptop, said: ‘We’re the leading bookmaker. We don’t have to make things up and have audited accounts.’
THERE was no trouble between Liverpool and Everton fans at Wembley during their FA Cup semi-final or travelling to the game, nor was any expected by British Transport Police. Yet the Met Police’s surprise opinion during fraught scheduling discussions was that there was more potential for disturbances around the Merseyside encounter — even on the eve of the Hillsborough anniversary — than at Chelsea v Tottenham. It led to a mooted 5pm Saturday kick-off for Liverpool v Everton being turned down for security reasons. TOY company magnate John Hales, owner of Grand National winner Neptune Collonges, has 1.1million Wenlock (right) and Mandeville London 2012 mascots in his Golden Bear warehouse to shift. Licensee Hales has so far sold 3.7m, a surprisingly large number, of the not-so-cuddly Olympic toys, to the trade and is hoping the upcoming torch relay will bring a surge in sales.
THE racing authorities, who fast need to get their house in order after yet more Grand National fatalities, don’t mind handing out overly-harsh punishments for media transgressions. French racing photographer Jean-charles Briens broke his nose and needed stiches in a split lip when Wishfull Thinking crashed through the rail at the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham. Briens was barred from working at Aintree and had his British racing Press pass taken away for nine months because he was standing too near the track between the rails. Racecourse Association spokesperson Sam Cone said: ‘Safety has got to be paramount’ — but it isn’t for the horses running in the National.