Brant Dunshea: BHA will ask Gambling Commission to be fully transparent over affordability checks pilot

Acting BHA chief executive Brant Dunshea has said British racing's governing body would be asking the Gambling Commission to be "fully transparent" about the results of the ongoing pilot of affordability checks it is carrying out.

Dunshea was speaking on a new podcast the BHA is launching on Thursday which it says will feature interviews with senior leaders within the organisation, as well as insight into those who work to ensure racing can take place every day.

The Gambling Commission launched its pilot of 'frictionless' affordability checks, which it terms financial risk checks, in August and it is due to conclude next month.

Asked by podcast host Nick Lightfoot – who the BHA says has total editorial independence – what the BHA was doing about the checks, Dunshea said that while it was right that protections were put in place to mitigate against the risk of gambling harm, those measures had to be balanced.

He added: "We will continue to make representations to government to ensure that those checks are proportionate.

"We will also want to ensure that with the Gambling Commission, when they have completed the pilot of financial risk checks they are undertaking at the moment, we will be asking them to be fully transparent in terms of showing us what that pilot has shown and how can we collaborate and work together to help them integrate changes that are genuinely frictionless."

Irish runners have dominated at the Cheltenham Festival in recent yearsCredit: Michael Steele (Getty Images)

With the Cheltenham Festival fast approaching, Dunshea was also asked what the BHA was doing to tackle the dominance of Irish runners at the meeting and the "slump" of British racing.

Dunshea said work was being carried out as part of a wider industry strategy to improve the number of high-quality horses in both jumps and Flat racing.

He added: "Later this year we will hear more about that work, but it's important to remember as we go into the Cheltenham Festival that we have some amazing top-class horses in Britain.

"We had the most amazing festival period across Christmas and new year and we have got horses like Constitution Hill, Jonbon and The New Lion all there front and centre. So while we do get this narrative that builds each year around the dominance of the Irish, we are working hard to reverse that."

The first episode of the podcast also features interviews with the BHA’s director of communications and public affairs Greg Swift and its head of policy and advocacy Victoria Morgan.

Among the areas covered are the sport’s political engagement work, preservation of its social licence and reflections on the first year of Premier racing.

The BHA said new episodes would follow at roughly six- to eight-week intervals, although some might be more frequent depending on the racing calendar and events.

BHA head of communications Robin Mounsey said: "Racing has a large and highly engaged fan base who rightly want to understand the work of the BHA. Our goal in starting this podcast is to increase the visibility and accountability of the BHA’s leadership. This podcast is just one step in doing this."

Read these next:

We asked 10,000 punters about affordability checks and the black market. What you told us is alarming 

Premier racing half-term report: affordability checks blamed for drop in average turnover at major festivals 

Frictionless affordability checks pilot shows potential for 'confusion' - Gambling Commission 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.