Newbury to defy BHA on Gold Cup
THERE will be uproar within racing later this week when Newbury announce Ladbrokes-Coral as the new sponsors of the Hennessy Gold Cup, which has been backed by the French cognac brand for 60 years.
Newbury are expected to name the new backers of their flagship steeplechase on Thursday, despite neither of the two giant bookmakers, who have recently merged, being authorised betting partners — which means they are not allowed to sponsor races by the sport’s ruling body, the British Horseracing Authority.
But it is not just the BHA who are furious about the independently owned Newbury course flouting the regulation brought in because the erstwhile big four bookmakers — Ladbrokes, who will take over the Hennessy sponsorship on their own, Coral, William Hill and BetFred — do not pay a levy on their large offshore earnings.
Also angered by the move are the two other major stakeholders, the Racecourse Association, who represent 59 racecourses, and the racing participants’ trade union, Horsemen, who may even decide to snub Newbury in future.
CHAIRMAN Greg Clarke might not see the point of the clock at St George’s Park counting down to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But England rugby head coach Eddie Jones sees the Rugby World Cup final in Japan in 2019 as the date everything is geared to — so much so that all his management team from the kitman upwards have apps on their phones with a countdown clock to that match. THE six-year ban from all football on former FiFA president Sepp Blatter (right) has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport — increasing the chances of the Swiss attorney-general starting criminal proceedings against him.
Swiss federal prosecutors are probing Blatter’s £1.3million ‘disloyal payment’ to Michel Platini, which CAS ruled had ‘no contractual basis’, and an unauthorised World Cup TV rights deal with another arch FiFA rogue, Jack Warner, for a fraction of the market price. Blatter’s role in Germany ‘buying’ the 2006 World Cup is also being investigated.
Predictably, Blatter described CAS’s judgement as ‘incomprehensible’.
LLAMBIAS, co-founder of new NFL specialist bookies Redzonesports.com, reportedly lost his firm more than £150,000 after setting the odds too high on the Washington Redskins as a marketing gimmick at the Thanksgiving party launch at Kensington Roof Gardens. Llambias said: ‘Everyone, apart from us, left with a bigger bank balance.’ Rash bets run in the family: Warren’s father Derek, the ex-Newcastle United chairman, once streaked across Newcastle’s St James’ Park pitch after a wager with owner Mike Ashley and then denied doing so to Sports Agenda.