'Hugely worrying' - Stuart Williams warns industry over affordability checks

Intrusive affordability checks on punters are "hugely worrying" and threaten to further harm the health of a British racing industry already struggling with meagre prize-money and a drain of talent abroad, warned prominent trainer Stuart Williams on Monday.

The spectre of diminishing levy returns for the sport as bettors stop gambling on racing, or turn to the unregulated black market that does not contribute to its finances, is something the industry can ill-afford, Williams stressed, with owners – racing’s other major source of income – already battling with derisory returns on their outlay compared to other leading jurisdictions.

Bookmakers, under pressure from betting industry regulator the Gambling Commission, have been ratcheting up requests for sensitive financial information from punters, such as bank statements.

The demands are being made as the wait goes on for the government to publish a white paper into the review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

Paul Johnson, chief executive of the National Trainers Federation (NTF), on Sunday became one of the small handful of leading racing figures to speak out publicly against the imposition of stringent affordability checks, outlining how the Gambling Commission’s directives “could have an annual cost to racing of tens of millions” if continuing in the same vein as they have been.

Paul Johnson: NTF chief executive has spoken out about threat of affordability checksCredit: Racing Post/Scott Burton

Williams, a former president of the NTF, said on Monday: “It's an important issue. We get a lot of our funding that isn’t put in by the owners and breeders from the punters. If they’re being restricted and not able to bet without giving their bank details, it is hugely worrying.

“The sport's two biggest income streams by a mile are the owners, whose return is six to eight pence in the pound, and the punters.”

Avoiding a significant hole being blown in British racing’s finances is of crucial importance, Williams added, with the sport continuing to experience a loss of equine and human talent abroad.

“We always had second-tier horses disappearing abroad but now some of the top horses are going and the third-tier horses are going as well,” said Williams.

“If you looked at the statistics from the horses in training sales you’d be astounded at how many are sold abroad.

“It’s not just the horses, either. Matt Cumani, David Eustace and Annabel Neasham have all chosen to train in Australia; Tom George’s son Noel has chosen to train in France.

“Harry Bentley and Silvestre de Sousa have gone to ride in Hong Kong, while Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle have been saying how fantastic it is in Japan.

Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle: enjoyed a successful stint in JapanCredit: Edward Whitaker

“We’re going to get left behind if we’re not very careful. There has been a lot of underfunding for many years now and I think it’s starting to show.”

Alongside fending off the most draconian and intrusive of affordability checks, the Newmarket trainer said racing needed to lobby harder for a switch in how the levy is funded, to a turnover-based model rather than a percentage of bookmakers' profits.

He said: “Under the system of gross profits, we want punters to lose. In a turnover model, we don’t want them to lose. We’re a multi-billion pound industry where one of our two main customers is losing 94p in a pound and the other one has to lose completely.

"It’s a mad way to run a business and it needs getting hold of. I think we need radical change, not tinkering around the edges. We need a turnover model for a start and, eventually, we need to move to a system like in Australia, where a lot of the funding is coming from the Tote.”

He added: “Personally, I would try to get more money into the second- and third-tier races and try not to run as many bottom-tier races. I would try to improve our product and make the races more interesting, not just handicap after handicap. I’d try to engage the customer more.”

Have you been affected by intrusive affordability checks? If so, we would like to hear from you. Email us (editor@racingpost.com) with the subject 'Affordability checks' to share your experiences and contact details

Read more . . .

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Racing faces 'catastrophic' impact from affordability checks says NTF chief

'Not fit for purpose' – prominent MP slams gambling regulator over interventions

'Enough is enough' – punters detail their frustration with intrusive checks

Punters' views: 'Nobody checks my records when I buy wine or fill my car up'

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