Professional punter backs Andrew Black's 'no-brainer' proposal for new performance bet and warns of black market's growing attraction

A professional punter has backed proposals to introduce a performance bet for punters gambling on British racing, saying such an innovation was a “no-brainer”.

Last week, Betfair co-founder Andrew Black labelled each-way betting “a dinosaur fit for extinction” in a Racing Post article and said a performance bet where punters received payouts based on where their horse finished would be more entertaining, offer better value and could be rolled into the experience of a raceday with a leaderboard and a winner at the end of the fixture.

Mike Spence, an owner, professional punter and son of Group 1-winning owner Alan Spence, agreed such a system would provide more enticing betting opportunities, particularly at a time when punters were increasingly turning to the black market having been squeezed by bookmaker restrictions and intrusive affordability checks.