Racing's future? It's the direction of the punting dollar

PUNTERS out there must stand to attention. Just who you salute with your money may well decide which mob wins and which loses. The racing industry has been engulfed by the punters' own tsunami. This is a giant wave capable of wiping out the game, the sport, the industry, reports Craig Young in the Sydney morning Herald.His report adds: You've got "Baghdad" Bob Bentley on the rampage. You've got Betfair, the online group that allows you to bet against a horse or back it at the click of

PUNTERS out there must stand to attention. Just who you salute with your money may well decide which mob wins and which loses. The racing industry has been engulfed by the punters' own tsunami. This is a giant wave capable of wiping out the game, the sport, the industry, reports Craig Young in the Sydney morning Herald.

His report adds: You've got "Baghdad" Bob Bentley on the rampage. You've got Betfair, the online group that allows you to bet against a horse or back it at the click of a button. You've got the corporate bookmakers remaining resolute: they will not return 1.5 per cent of betting turnover to the industry. They want to pay based on gross profit.

Then you've got the underwriters, the TABs, those plunderers of pockets, calling for a settlement. These TABs deposit massive amounts into treasury coffers to help out with hospitals, schools, roads, etc.

The TABs are racing's lifeblood. Their injection of financial capital sustains a mighty beast but to think, spin remains king. To think racing has developed its own once-in-a-lifetime tsunami.

Punters must remember the Monty Python skit where the brave one has limbs lopped off, one after another. This guy just refuses to concede defeat to the one wielding the sword. Little by little racing is being torn apart like never before. The punters must decide if they want racing to continue.

Do you bet with the TAB and cop the inflated take-out rates or go with the corporates. Basically every time you wager with the TAB you do 16ó out of the dollar cold. The TABs' shareholders take a chunk. So, too, the various governments. Racing is left with the rest. That is around 6ó in the buck. When the deal was struck eons ago everybody was a winner.