New avenues need to be explored to ramp up racing's undersold attractions

Some time in the next 18 months the flashing lights will stop flickering and the beeps and buzzes will go silent as the 34,000 FOBTs that lurk in Britain's betting shops are neutered to the point of extinction.

What's done is done, and hopefully there will indeed be a significant improvement in reducing problem gambling because the slashing of the maximum stake from £100 to £2 will not be without pain elsewhere.

Between now and the moment the axe falls on the contentious machines it is vital every effort is made to limit the predicted job losses and prize-money reductions, and to that end it would surely be worthwhile racing and betting industry leaders getting together to see how they can promote racing to those shop customers who exclusively or almost entirely play the machines.