John Ferguson Gimcrack Speech, Tuesday 13 December, 2016.

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Brandon Conley
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1 John Ferguson Gimcrack Speech, Tuesday 13 December, My Lord President, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my great privilege tonight to deliver the Gimcrack speech on behalf of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, after his colt, Blue Point, won the Gimcrack Stakes here back in August. Sincere thanks are due to those directly responsible, namely Charlie Appleby and William Buick, together with Reddy and Linda Coffey of Oak Lodge Bloodstock, who bred the horse. We very much hope Blue Point can follow the lead of Muhaarar, who won the Gimcrack for Sheikh Hamdan two years ago, before he became champion sprinter. When I asked Sheikh Mohammed what the theme of this speech should be, he was very clear. He wanted me to remind you of his passion for British racing, and the joy it has brought him. At Darley and Godolphin, we see this every day. And it s there for everyone else to see in the names Sheikh Mohammed adopted for his racing and breeding interests. The Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian: two stallions from his homeland whose influence on the thoroughbred has been so profound. This is an aspect of Britain racing that has always fascinated Sheikh Mohammed. Its rich history, and the fusion of that history with his own. This evening commemorates the tenth time the Gimcrack Stakes has been won by a member of the Maktoum family and their friends. Such numbers are clearly indicative of a love affair with the sport. It has been this way for 4 decades. Some of you will know the story of Hatta, Sheikh Mohammed s first racehorse of how he travelled to Brighton racecourse by train in 1977 to watch her make a winning debut. By the time Hatta won the Molecombe Stakes at Goodwood the following month, Sheikh Mohammed was committed. But he had already been touched by British Horse Racing. He went for the first time in 1967, when he was studying in Cambridge. On that day he saw Royal Palace win the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, where he watched the race from the Silver Ring. He was at Salisbury in May 1970 when Mill Reef made a winning debut. These became defining images in his mind, ones that would propel his involvement in British racing to the levels they have reached today. Forty years on and those images have not faded in the slightest. He has since added several others to his own memory bank of great horses he has raced, many at York, like Halling, the winner of successive Juddmonte Internationals in the mid-1990s, both times by wide margins.

2 In 1987 he won the Nunthorpe Stakes here with Ajdal, who, shall we say, had an unconventional preparation, having run in the Derby two months earlier. It s a measure of the man that he derives immense satisfaction from sharing the joys of victory. To that end, he frequently gifts promising horses to younger members of his family to stimulate their interest. The same is true of close acquaintances in Dubai. Many of them became enchanted with racing as a result of Sheikh Mohammed s passion. This rubbed off on his close friends who between them have won many classics in England. That passion remains as intense today as it was at the start of the odyssey. This is the 246th Gimcrack Dinner, but in terms of Group 1 wins in Europe, Sheikh Mohammed surpassed that number earlier this year. By our calculations, the total now stands at 253. It rises to 419 on the inclusion of Maktoum family members and friends. Those numbers will rise higher in the years ahead, but I highlight them here because they make a definitive statement about Sheikh Mohammed s unwavering commitment to the sport. Nothing could be clearer. As people have come to realise, Sheikh Mohammed s contribution to British racing is not confined to the racecourse. His embrace is so whole-hearted that few aspects of British racing have not derived some benefit. His backing of Channel 4 Racing has played a significant part in the sport maintaining its long and healthy association with terrestrial television. His creation of the Flying Start programme could be his greatest gift, and the inauguration of the Godolphin Stud and Stable awards his most appreciated bequest to this great industry. He has also been a staunch supporter of the community in Newmarket, where so many of his equine interests are based. And his involvement with racing-related charities is ongoing. This has all come to pass because of his devotion to racing, and the people associated with it. Of course, it has not all been plain sailing. On this very evening in 1997 Sheikh Mohammed communicated in strong terms his desire to see a correction to the historic underfunding of British racing. He was encouraged to speak out on the basis that some good might come of it, although we can see that not much has changed in the intervening 19 years. But encouragement should be drawn from the imminent replacement of the levy system, which will consign to history the divisive annual levy standoff between racing and bookmakers. That has to be a positive for both sides, given their requirement to work together in the sport s best interests. We are here tonight to celebrate Blue Point s aforementioned victory in the Gimcrack Stakes. There is extra pleasure in the fact Blue Point is by Shamardal, who is a Darley stallion. This sense of continuity, of advancing on what you have already achieved, is a creed close to the heart.

3 Sheikh Mohammed asks that we celebrate with him tonight his enjoyment of British racing. In that spirit, I propose a toast to the health of British racing, and to Blue Point, winner of the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes.

4 Richard Flint Gimcrack Speech, Tuesday 13 December, Intro My Lord President, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. Well it s been a year of shocks. Leicester City, Brexit, Donald Trump. And now an online bookie replying on behalf of British Racing! But I am not here to build a wall, I am here to try and tear walls down - to try and play a small part in restoring the critically important relationship between racing and betting which, as you know, goes back centuries. It is a particular pleasure to do this at York. York Sky Bet s relationship with this fantastic racecourse goes back to the very start of our company. Our first ever sponsorship deal in July 2004 saw my friend and ex colleague Nick Rust, now Chief Exec of the BHA, sign the welcome page and cheque for the inaugural Skybet supported Music Showcase day. This has now enjoyed 13 renewals. And it was December of that year that we first supported the Go Racing in Yorkshire annual awards and lunch. We are looking forward to these being back here this coming Thursday. We ve also been a sponsor of the Go Racing in Yorkshire Summer Festival since its inception. And the Sky Bet Dash and Sky Bet Stakes have become my highlights of the racing calendar. Our Lord President s Juddmonte Farms is the only owner to have won the Skybet York Stakes twice with the appropriately named Twice Over in 2011 and Time Test this year. Teddy - nothing has given me greater pleasure than to hand over the six figure cheque to you on two occasions. I m sure you put the money to good use. And I was delighted that we ve extended our relationship with York with the addition of the Sky Bet Lowther for the first time last August in a deal which was cemented at this very dinner 12 months ago. So it s probably a good thing that the prospect of this speech has kept me away from the wine this evening! I m sure everyone here will agree that William and his team run a fantastic racecourse and we re delighted to have been so closely involved over the years. Relationship with racing As you know, in the decade or so since that first sponsorship deal the landscape that both racing and betting operate in has changed dramatically. And in so many ways Sky Bet has been at the forefront of those changes.

5 We ve gone from a small operator based in Harrogate to an international business employing 1100 people across two cities in Yorkshire. Over the next 3 years we will pay over half a billion pounds in tax. And recently the Gambling Commission announced that the remote gambling sector became the largest part of the UK gambling market but note that racing is worth less than 8% of this online market Sky Bet now has more UK online customers than any other operator. Our online share as a whole and in racing is growing. In racing in particular we now believe we have more customers than Ladbrokes Coral, Betfred, and William Hill. We are a significant part of the racing landscape. And our success has been built right here in Yorkshire. This is a far cry from the traditional world of the betting shop. And yet, on many issues, the relationship between racing and betting is still based on that world. As many people have said before me, we need to move on. For good or ill, technological and social change has meant that the traditional relationship between the two industries no longer works. We need to form a new partnership between racing and betting. A partnership built in the digital world that appeals and engages new audiences. If we fail to do this I believe there is one particular, and very serious issue, that will inflict lasting damage on both of our sectors. Racing s demographic challenge Despite some excellent progress on attendances at courses I know from our own customer research that racing is missing out on a whole new generation of customers. A quarter of our customers are under 25. Nearly all of their betting activity is via a mobile device. Even desktop top computers are old fashioned to them. And those customers are seventeen times more likely to bet only on football than only on racing. And racing is the favourite sport of just 13% of these customers. That s a third of the number of the over 55s. Racing is facing an unprecedented demographic challenge. We must all work together if we are to address it. And I believe the betting industry is well placed to help. How Sky Betting & Gaming Can Help Address This Two million people use their smartphone betting apps each and every week. Across the industry that figure is increasing by around 10% a year. That s ten times more than watch a normal episode of the Morning Line.

6 At Sky Bet we have had some success at cross selling that audience in to racing. Unlike many of our competitors who have seen revenues from racing decline steadily over the years. Ours has grown. I know there s a perception out there that bookmakers use racing as a gateway or loss leader to send customers to football or casino games. For us, it is the complete opposite. More than a third of our regular horse racing customers started with us by betting on football. Over a million customers play our Super 6 football prediction game each and every weekend. Of these over a quarter of a million have gone on to bet on racing. We took this successful free to play concept and launched our Pick6 prediction game. This now has 130,000 customers each weekend. Twice the number of people play this game than buy the Racing Post on a normal day. And speaking of racing journalism, I m incredibly proud that the legendary Sporting Life is now part of the Sky Betting & Gaming family. Funded by betting this brings racing news to 4 million people every month. So we have massive audiences for racing to talk to. We know that these are potential customers, for both of us; we know the digital channels that they like to use; and know how to engage them. And at Sky Bet at least, we want to promote racing to them, because we believe that racing is in many ways the most exciting sport to bet on. We can help address the demographic challenge the sport faces - by working together to promote the sport in an accessible and engaging way to the millions of people who use our services each and every week. Racing vs Football But with my straight forward business head on this is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. Sky Bet makes four times as much from a 10 bet on football as we do on racing. And as I ve said, our younger customer base is already more inclined to bet on football anyway. With the Government minded to extend the Levy to online operators at 10% of gross profits.racing becomes a near zero margin sport for us. Racing needs us to introduce customers to racing rather than encouraging them elsewhere.

7 Levy We are comfortable making a fair contribution to racing. That s why we signed up as an Authorised Betting Partner. A more reasonable rate than the 10% currently proposed, one that gave betting operators the flexibility to promote the sport in conjunction with racing, would ultimately mean more revenues going to both industries. We ve signed up to such a reasonable rate through the ABP system. It is working well. We are pushing racing hard to our customers. Revenues are growing. And racing has received far more money from us than they expected. Resolving this issue, preferably through a commercial agreement that major bookmakers could agree to, or otherwise a statutory but reasonable rate, would also allow us to work together to protect the sport from any advertising and sponsorship restrictions the government is considering. As an aside, I also believe that a far more reasonable rate would have a much higher chance of getting through state aid considerations and actually being implemented. But we are not going to moan. Whatever rate is set, by whatever means, Sky Bet will continue to support racing in many ways, including through the ABP scheme. But we need to move on as quickly as we can and start working together. Partnership So what do I mean by working together? Well, if the new scheme is to be based on statute then I would like to see a formalised role for bookmakers and racing to really focus on promoting the sport. Part of the funding raised from the levy could go to a dedicated body with representatives from all sides, including online operators like us. They would be given a remit to use levy funding to grow interest in racing and interest in betting on racing. This body would look at new ways to keep audiences, old and new, engaged with the sport that everyone here loves. This would be one sign of how working together racing and betting could help address the sport s demographic challenge and secure its future for the long term. Many things could build from it, including positive relationships. The last year Because I m in no doubt. Racing is a phenomenal sport to bet on and a great live experience.

8 We are proud to sponsor the Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham and the opening race roar of the Festival sends shivers up my spine every year not only because of what we stand to lose if another Willie Mullins trained horse wins. But as you know Nicky Henderson s Altior took home the spoils this year not that this was much better! Other great moments this year were Time Test s win in the Sky Bet York Stakes, Postponed s comeback success in the Juddmonte International here at York and who can forget the scenes in the winner s enclosure following Heartbreak City s Ebor triumph. They were all moments of high drama and emotion and perfectly encapsulated what racing as a sport can deliver on and off the track. At Sky Betting & Gaming we hope to be part of that for years to come. It therefore gives me great pleasure to reply on behalf of British Racing and in so doing, I would like you to raise your glasses to the future success and prosperity of British Racing, on which we all depend.

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