Other website sections

»Sports Market Reports

»Sports Jobs

»Tenders

»Directory

»Conferences

A range of initiatives, including an end to the traditional odds used by bookmakers, will be unveiled today (Jan 5) in a bid to boost the popularity of horse racing.

The Racing for Change taskforce has come up with 10 trial measures designed to bring “positive change for the sport and its customers”. All 10 will be implemented in the first half of 2010.

They include an end the use of the fractional odds system currently used by the betting industry. Odds such as 15/8 and 9/4 will be replaced by decimal odds such as 1.5/1 at several meetings over a single weekend in the spring.

Other proposals range from a free club for “younger adults” which will offer discounted admission and shares in horses, to photo finishes being displayed on the big screens as the judge announces the result, similar to the referral systems used in cricket and tennis.

Chairman of Racing For Change Chris McFadden said “What [racing] requires is a clearer structure and better presentation of its strengths: its drama, spectacle and heritage, as well as its equine and human stars.”