Bookmaker windfall a reminder Levy Board's survival is best outcome for racing

Five million pounds is not a sum to be sniffed at, so the Levy Board deserves some gratitude from British racing for its perseverance in securing precisely that sum from bookmakers.

The extra money was cash which a number of bookmakers had not submitted as part of their returns during the 2018-19 levy year, when levy yield plummeted by £17 million to £78m.

The Levy Board last year questioned bookmakers over how they had treated cash-back offers to punters in terms of levy payments, telling them that their legal advice was that such offers could not be used to reduce operators' gross profits from racing and therefore their levy payments. As a result, and without recourse to the courts, an extra £5m was paid to the Levy Board.