Have Betfred made a success of the business since leaping into the pools?

When Betfred won the race to buy the Tote from the government in 2011, bringing to an end a protracted sale saga, chief executive and co-founder Fred Done delivered a characteristically bullish prediction of how he would he would get on with his prize. "One thing I'll guarantee," he said, "is I'll make a success of the business, both at shop and pool level."

Such promises offered little comfort to racing, which had fought hard to avoid the Tote falling into Betfred's hands. The sport had been desperate to get hold of the 83-year-old Tote itself, and when that dream died it sought to see it delivered to a consortium headed by former British Horseracing Board chairman Sir Martin Broughton, who promised racing influence in the business and a guaranteed £11 million a year, only marginally lower than the £11.5m the state-owned Tote was then delivering.

Backing the loser in a two-horse race was embarrassing enough, but racing feared the deal with Betfred would be bad for the sport and bad for the Tote. Some suspected the retail-focused Betfred would have little interest in developing the pools business. They feared the upshot for racing would be a diminished Tote and, more importantly, diminished financial returns for racing.