Facebook post by Thomas O Donavan Everyone has their ideas of what will make the industry better, get out of this mess and improve integrity but I can only give you mine. On the basis of having trained successfully in Australia, Ireland and America and a clear understanding of the racing industry in each of those countries. I'm also a qualified Structural Engineer so I like dealing in facts not opinions where at all possible. There has been a lot of talk about promoting the industry through marketing, syndication etc. but the reality is the product is not good enough and until that product is improved then all the marketing will be a waste, syndicates will go as quick as they came into the game. It all comes down to prize money; it s the best marketing tool of all. Obviously there are numerous cut backs needed within IGB offices to increase prize money straight away and better allocation of the government funding is needed but those are short term fixes to problems that are embedded within the industry. If these problems are not eradicated then the industry will only reach a certain level and began to die off again. So where do we start to improve the product. I believe there are two areas; Racing Integrity Presentation. The knock on effect of getting these areas right is a product that bookmakers have confidence in and want to invest in, it gives SIS a product to sell easily, it makes the product saleable to international markets, the promotion from just being shown live in shops will increase profile, in turn increasing revenue for the IGB. The current racing produced in Ireland is not only corrupt (if not corrupt then appears corrupt which is just as bad) but also presented poorly. Some believe that greyhound racing is dying or becoming less popular which I believe is completely wrong, people are getting sick of it because of poor governance and poor presentation. Greyhound racing is growing in popularity in Australia, in fact of the three racing codes in Australia (horses, trotts, greyhounds), greyhounds is the fastest growing betting product of the three. The board have used this excuse and the recession for their failing but the truth is in recessions gambling grows. Did we see many bookmakers go out of business during the recession, Boylesports, Paddy Power etc. seem to have grown but greyhound racing( A Betting Product) has diminished. Here are a few comparisons using the State of Victoria in Australia (each state is run like a separate country as many of people would know). Ireland's population is 4.74 million Vs Victoria 5.7 million Number of tracks Ireland 17 Vs Victoria 13. Prize money for A1/ open Ireland 290 v s Victoria Aus$ 5000. Ireland has professionals working in an amateur industry versus Victoria has professionals working in a professional industry.
The TAB and media rights fund the industry. If we are to wait in Ireland for a TAB type system then we will all be long dead and buried before that happens, the government moves at a snail s pace when it comes to decisions and innovation. So why don't we, in the greyhound industry create a TAB type system within the greyhound industry. It can be done and everyone is a winner including owners, trainers, breeders, punters and of course Government (if they re not winning in the deal then it won t happen, they are akin to the mafia after all). But let s get back to sorting out the basics first. This industry has the reputation of being completely corrupt, it s not my view, it is the view of many bookmakers and general public. I recently spoke to a cousin who was employed in management by an online betting company, he knows nothing about dogs but asked the question why they don't they lay odds on greyhounds. He was told 'that's a no go area', that it was rotten to the core in corruption. The only way this industry will regain confidence again is a complete rebuild of the structure of racing and governance and integrity. A name change and re branding may also be needed. 1. Racing Integrity: Firstly, we are in an industry which survives from betting and what revenue the government takes in, reflects what the industry receives in funding each year. Not enough is being done to increase the betting turn over with the corporate bookmakers such as Paddy Power, Boylesports etc. In Australia Bet365 offer fixed odds prices on every dog race in Australia 24 hours before the event, all other bookmakers such as Sportsbet(paddy powers), Ladbrokes, William Hill etc open fixed odds betting from 10-20 minutes before every race in the country. Remember these are English and Irish betting companies that can offer fixed odds on every race in Australia but can't do the same on their own door step in Ireland. Clearly there are major issues with the industry in Ireland when these companies have no confidence in laying fixed odds here. This is an untapped market which would increase revenue to government finances and in turn justify funding to IGB. Recently SIS are providing racing to bookmakers but it s on a small scale and a lot of reluctance from bookmakers, I'm sure SIS want to expand this as soon as possible but improvements need to be made. We need to copy what is successful at attracting punters and bookmakers so SIS can sell this product. After all TV money is gold, just look at the Premiership in the England, an average product with high standards in integrity and phenomenal presentation. In my opinion there are three areas that make up Racing Integrity and they cover every area for bookmakers, owners, trainers and punters which is vital for a successful betting industry: (i) (ii) (iii) Grading Testing Trap Draw I think they cover every area for bookmakers, owners, trainers and punters which is vital for a successful betting industry.
(i) Grading: The grading system is flawed. It is an animal welfare issue and it promotes corruption. It is one of the reasons why bookmakers can't lay fixed odds with any confidence. While there is no perfect grading system anywhere in the world, no matter how good a grading system there will always be times when dogs are graded badly or graded too easily. The animal welfare problem with the current grading arises from a young dog running quick time in its first race and then has to race against the top grade dogs, most young dogs will get knocked around and eventually lose interest in racing when put straight into top grade, some will be able to handle it and some after numerous race will get accustomed to the higher level. I believe a grading system that gets a young dog to about 8-10 starts without having to take on the older, derby dogs would help greatly to keep the younger dogs sound both mentally and physically. Grading by times will never allow this. Grading by 'Time' promotes corruption and this is one reason bookmakers don't want to know greyhound racing in Ireland. It is grading on 'opinion' not grading on 'fact'. Track surface, weather, manager opinions on rating the track are just some variances that give inaccurate times allocated to dogs and therefore grade. Whether true or not, the incentive for a trainer or owner is there, to slow a dog to get graded easier, there is no confidence within the industry to qualifying times, they are taken with a pinch of salt so how could bookmakers take them seriously. Qualifying times need to be scrapped, they are pointless, and their only use is to get the dog into the grading system. Of course if we scrap qualifying times then we have to grade in a different way with more integrity. In Australia there are no private trials where only the trainer see's the time, every trial the times and splits go up on the semaphore board for everyone to see but these are not official recorded times. There are no qualifying trials in Australia, some states have a, what they call qualifying trials, but they are just there to see if the dog will go round the track. At most of the tracks there are always pro punters or people employed by bookmakers watching trials and taking note of all dogs and times. Even though they don't know exactly what dogs are being trialled, they have a fair idea from experience. I would suggest we should be doing the same here and make every trial public but not official. It is in Ireland already to some extent at Shelbourne but the difference being they are official trials and effect racing grade. We all know why that happens at Shelbourne but in fairness if bookmakers lay odds on any track in Ireland, its Shelbourne. The problem for trainers is it effects the grade of their dog. We need to copy what is successful and attracts bookmakers to invest in the industry I think there are a few ways to improve the grading system which in turn may help bookmakers have more confidence in the industry. This is just a broad idea but i can go into detail if needed and also give a detailed account of how they grade in Australia. ** Scrap qualifying trials and grading on time. Grade on number of races won and make all trials public, have a central grading system and ranking order for entries. Maybe we can grade each track separately like Australia. This grading will keep pups running against their own age or dogs with poor form without having to wait around for months for puppy races, once a dog has 10 starts they generally find their grade no matter what system is in place. Public trials will help integrity for bookmaker confidence and scrapping qualifying times will lessen the prevalence of 'stopping' dogs which is another integrity issue. Some will say grading on time can work. I agree it can but it reduces integrity and transparency so why do that when there is a better way. We need to get the major bookmakers on board to increase the income from betting tax.
(ii) Testing: No matter how genuine and trust worthy the people are working within the IGB, there is no integrity in using their own lab for testing samples. It has to be an independent body or else there is no confidence within the industry. If there is no confidence within the industry, how are we to expect bookmakers and punters to have confidence? The staff costs, the lab costs (400k new machine seemingly, we saw a picture so it must be true) would surely be better spent on independent testing. By selling the lab and cutting costs like staff and ongoing maintenance of the equipment there would surely be enough savings to pay for the samples to be tested independently for at least 3-4 years, at which point financially IGB may be in a better position to continue that expense. (iii) Trap draw: Trap draw is more about integrity for owners and trainers. My view on Trap draw is sometimes the simplest solution is best. There's computer generated draws and draws done behind closed doors and no matter how genuine a draw is done, there will always be doubt and questions. The trap draw in Australia is done by computer which one can watch live for every race but still there is major doubt among many trainers so really you can't win unless it s done live like the way the Irish Derby is done. So why not do all draws at tracks in front of everyone. For example, take Shelbourne for a Saturday night. Why can't they do the draw for this meeting on Wednesday at Shelbourne. Do the draw in the kennel area and get a trainer randomly to draw out the dogs, it s simple and no one will question it instead of spending a fortune on some computer system that will probably be 100% genuine but people will still doubt. 2. Presentation: Presentation comes down to how the product is displayed on TV. When ones looks at Australian racing it is very professionally presented. The best example on this side of the world is Towcester, it should be copied. Younger generation are attracted to things that look professional and want to get involved then because it s a reflection of themselves. There is currently no Greyhound Racing TV in Ireland which is a disgrace but if the current board were to start it, it would be as amateurish as their current IT developments at IGB. You only have to look at the race replays on their website to realize the incompetence in presentation. Honestly a six year old child with an IPhone would do a better job. I'm not going to spend long talking about presentation, it one of the most important aspects of the industry but because it is none existent with the current board it is probably the easiest part to rectify. It is an untapped area of our industry which has been neglected for too long.
3. Creating Our Own TAB style System: On-course bookmakers have been hopeless for many years now and to me they have killed themselves off. With the exception of maybe a hand full of decent bookies that lay respectable odds and take a decent bet, the rest are a disgrace. Of the hand full of good bookies that I can think of, most have their own independent bookmaker shop so they are not really depending of on-course bookmaking for a living. I think we can improve this considerably, using any track as an example: Get rid of on-course bookmakers. The track or tracks employs or hires an Odds Compiler to on make a book for race nights. Each track has its own tote which offers tote price and fixed odds on every race. Every customer at the track bets into the same pool, either the tote or fixed odds. The more customers at the track the bigger the pools and turnover. Start a TV program like RPGTV and show all racing in Ireland, profile trainers, owners, breeders. Set up a betting site that allows all races to be bet into tote and fixed odds, expand this internationally. It is possible to create a pool so that decent bets can be taken and they won t affect prices too much. This potentially can be a huge money maker if implemented properly. We currently have Barking Buzz which when it actually works is still completely pathetic, these people have zero idea how to create a betting website and who ever came up with the name Barking Buzz wasted more of our prize money by getting paid, sounds like a kids toy! Whatever profit comes from betting at that individual track goes to that track and distributed to prize money and whatever needs be, renovations etc. Therefore the incentive is there to increase customer numbers at each track and good performing tracks benefit more than the lesser performing tracks through the profit they make. The better performing tracks would as a result have higher levels of prize money, this would improve grading also because the better dogs will be aimed at the higher prize money tracks and may make it easier for the lesser dogs to win at lower prize money tracks. If people are afraid that the atmosphere will be lost without on-course bookies then it is easy to rectify that. Put up bookie boards and tote staff can man them and all money bet goes through the fixed odds pool. Imagine the size of the pools on big nights like derby night or ledger night, the income could potentially be huge. Obviously the performance of the odds compiler is important; I think some major bookmakers try to have a profit of at least 8% so this would have to be monitored. Major bookmakers would draw huge confidence from the fact that the tracks can offer fixed odds so they will definitely jump on board and offer fixed odds at their shop and online. There has been a lot of comparisons made between the Greyhound industry and Horse Racing industry which to me just highlights how bad our industry is being managed but I'm not happy with the aim or goal of trying to match Horse Racing because I believe Horse Racing in Ireland is not managed well either and should be going much stronger. We should be looking at much bigger than that. Call me mad if you like but I believe we should be setting our standard at the Australian level of prize money, I'm not saying that just because it s a great benchmark and how it would be great to
reach that level, I'm saying it because I firmly believe its Achievable. We have potentially a brilliant industry if we can get the right management in place. This industry will go nowhere unless racing integrity issues are addressed, you can promote it all you want and it will be in vain. I haven't spoken about figures or predictions on how profitable the industry can be simply because this has never been done before in this format, it s a combination of our industry mixed with the best points from Australia that will work in Ireland. I'm sure the current board will try sell Harold's Cross and for the next 2-3 years increase prize money to maybe 400 euro to winner of a graded race, they will tell us how great they are and then within a few years the industry will go into decline again. There is a very common occurrence in Ireland almost a tradition of people drinking their land. They can t figure out a way to become profitable, stuck in a rut so they sell 10 acres, drink that in two years and they still haven't come up with a plan so sell another 10 acres, eventually it will be all gone. This resembles the current Board of IGB. This Industry is Not Sustainable in its current format. We need a complete overhaul and most of the above ideas would not cost a great deal to implement. The current board don't have the ability, vision or desire to move the industry forward to a sustainable future. Personally I won t be staying in this industry if it continues to be managed incompatibly. There is a good saying I heard in Australia, it describes the IGB perfectly, "They Have Their Ambitions and Capabilities Mix Up". People say this industry is finished, I think it hasn't even got started yet.