Leading owner John Dance urges ROA to stand up for members on racecourse filming

Leading owner John Dance has urged the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) to take a firm stance over the issue of racecourse filming.

Dance's plea comes after the ROA on Sunday released a series of guidelines about what is and is not allowed when filming on racecourses.

On Monday, chief executive Charlie Liverton revealed the ROA is in discussions with Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and the conversation surrounding racecourse filming is ongoing, but plans have yet to be put in place to support owners.

The ROA advice follows an incident with one of Britain's leading syndicates when Foxtrot Racing was threatened with the suspension of its Twitter account by Racing TV after it posted footage taken by a syndicate member from the paddock before a race at Cheltenham.

Members of Foxtrot Racing celebrate big-race successCredit: Lewis Porteous

Dance was also in hot water after posting post-race content online on his social media account Dance Thoroughbreds.

He said: "They [the ROA] are effectively saying these are the rules because that's what RMG have told us. It’s almost like they've sided with RMG and are putting their members in their place.

"I would like to have seen some evidence the ROA have gone to bat on our behalf, and they've come out with these guidelines following weeks of consultation and discussion with RMG."

Dance, who enjoyed success on track with six-time Group 1 winner Laurens, added: "I’d like them to have an opinion on it. Okay, these are the rules, but what do you think? I’d rather they said these are the rules and unfortunately you can’t do this, that and the other."

John Dance (left) enjoyed plenty of victories with LaurensCredit: Edward Whitaker

Dance said the aim of Dance Thoroughbreds was to promote racing and engage people with a side of the sport they would not necessarily see on racing's two television channels. The account is still active but changes have been made to the content.

"I said on social media that anyone who is trying to promote the sport for the greater good should have a knock-on benefit for all of the individual stakeholders," he added.

"If racing as a sport grows and its fanbase grows that’s got to be good for the people that are televising racing and have the media rights – and if they're not having to fund that promotion it should be a good thing."

The guidelines put out by the ROA were the first time the group had engaged with RMG and The Racing Partnership over filming on racecourses, with the increased use of social media the driving force behind seeking clarity, according to Liverton.

He said: "Social media and its impact across many sporting events has seen an increase in the amount of live and recorded content being streamed on various platforms.

"Providing clarity to owners is therefore important so there is an understanding of what is and what isn’t acceptable to post online."

A spokesman for RMG at the time of Foxtrot Racing's Twitter post said the rules were in place to protect broadcaster rights, but commercial agreements were also in place with some syndicates to allow some filming.

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