Bet365 axe telephone betting after long-term decline in use

Bet365 closed their long-established telephone betting operation on Monday following a steady decline in the number of clients.

Spokesman Pat Cooney said: “Telephone betting had become such a minimal part of our business that it didn’t justify the staffing levels. Everything is online nowadays.

“All staff have been found positions elsewhere. We’d been considering our position for the last couple of months and finally shut down telephone betting on Monday.”

Punters who have used the bet365 telephone betting service can switch their account to an online one by ringing the customer services number.

Nine fixtures added for lower-rated horses

The BHA has announced nine new fixtures in June and July, introduced specifically to give lower-rated horses more opportunities.

The cards will also stage novice races in order to give unraced horses as many chances as possible to run.

Paul Johnson, head of racing at the BHA, said: "Both the fixture list and race programme for the weeks and months ahead are constantly evolving, as we aim to provide as many chances to run as we can for all sectors of the horse population.

"With the Levy Board being asked to provide almost all of the funding for fixtures, we are currently limited to staging three fixtures on most days rather than the five or six we would normally schedule at this time of year.

"Competition for places in all races is expected and it is not possible at present to stage as many races as we would like, but we are trying to provide races as and where we can for horses and their owners who have stood by the sport despite the recent uncertainty."

He added: "The possibility of adding further opportunities, including for jump racing after its return in July, will be considered once there is greater clarity about the sport’s income streams in the weeks ahead."

New fixtures

June 10 Wolverhampton
June 11 Newbury
June 15 Kempton
June 16 Chelmsford
June 30 Leicester
July 2 Catterick
July 6 Thirsk
July 13 Ayr
July 14 Ripon

Welsh racing gets the green light

Welsh racing is set to return this month, the BHA announced on Tuesday, with the first fixture scheduled at Chepstow on June 15.

Chepstow will be the sole track in action, with Bangor set to host racing for the first time since lockdown next month as part of the jumps season. Racing is not set to return to Ffos Las until October.

Phil Bell, who is executive director at Chepstow and Ffos Las, said: "We are delighted to welcome the return of racing in Wales. There will be a lot of work to do for everyone to adapt the way we run race meetings and meet the stringent safety requirements that have been set out by BHA, but we are very much looking forward to meeting the challenge and getting back to work."

Jockeys' championship dates confirmed

The PJA and it members have agreed the jockeys' championship started on June 1.

Traditionally the Flat season begins on Qipco 2,000 Guineas day on May 2 but racing only returned to Britain on June 1, with the title beginning immediately.

Initially set to end on Qipco British Champions Day in October, the championship will end on the final day of the season, which has yet to be confirmed.

Last year's champion jockey Oisin Murphy is an 11-10 shot to regain his title, with Silvestre de Sousa a best-priced 7-2 and Danny Tudhope available to back at 13-2.

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