Gambling Commission cracks down with online casinos fined £14m

The Gambling Commission has hit three online casino companies with fines totalling nearly £14 million for failures in dealing with problem gambling and money laundering.

Casumo has been ordered to pay a financial penalty of £5.85m, while Videoslots will pay £1m in lieu of a financial penalty. Daub Alderney, a subsidiary of Stride Gaming, was hit with a £7.1m penalty last week.

Another company – CZ Holdings – has surrendered its licence following a review while a further six companies are still under investigation.

Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur said on Thursday: "I hope today’s announcement will make all online casino operators sit up and pay attention, as our investigations found that a large number of operators and their senior management were not meeting their obligations."

He was supported by culture secretary Jeremy Wright, who added: "Any online operator that thinks it can ignore its duty to protect players should take note – there will be consequences. Protecting vulnerable consumers is our prime concern, and it must be the priority for gambling operators too."

Brooke takes over as Ascot chairman

Sir Francis Brooke is to succeed Johnny Weatherby as chairman of Ascot racecourse's parent company Ascot Authority (Holdings) Limited (AAHL).

In changes approved by the Queen, Weatherby will continue in his role as Her Majesty's Representative with responsibility for all matters relating to the royal family and the royal enclosure at Royal Ascot.

Brooke has been a trustee and director of AAHL since 2011 and as chairman will be responsible for the management of Ascot racecourse and will head the board.

He said: "I am very pleased to be taking on the chairmanship at Ascot and looking forward to continuing to build on the tremendous amount that has been achieved under Johnny’s leadership."

Weatherby added: "I am delighted Francis has taken on the role of chairman at Ascot and I look forward to continuing to support the board."

Leicester to host all-hurdles card

Leicester's Sunday fixture will be an all-hurdles card after the course was forced to cancel the two scheduled chases due to hard ground.

A statement from the track said: "Following our inspection, the chase course was found to be unraceable and hard. We will now be holding a six-race all-hurdle card."

The going on Thursday was described as good to soft, good in places in the home straight, with the rest of the course good to firm, firm in places.

Jonathon Bewley suffers cracked ribs in Sedgefield fall

Jockey Jonathon Bewley suffered cracked ribs in a fall at Sedgefield on Tuesday.

Bewley, who is stable jockey and assistant trainer to his father George, was riding the eight-year-old Royal Salute in the 3m2½f handicap chase but fell heavily two fences from home.

"I came down at the second-last and was taken for some scans where it was found I cracked some ribs," Bewley said.

Magical Lasso returns home

Magical Lasso, a finalist in the Retraining of Racehorses Heart awards who fought for his life after thieves fed him neat feed while stealing three blocks of stable shelters, has returned home.

Ex-racehorse owner speaks out after theft left her horse fighting for his life

Having spent several days at the vet, the five-year-old looks set to make a full recovery after showing signs of colic on Friday following the incident.

The former racehorse was one of three horses in owner Sarah Bentley's field when thieves took apart the stable blocks and spread unwatered feed in the field on Thursday evening.

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