Ladbrokes Aus Ride Guide falls at the first
Deal with Aussie jockeys for exclusive race previews may be ditched following potential breach of racing rules
Ladbrokes’ Australian arm could be forced to shelve its recently launched race preview service after stewards claimed the operator’s deal with jockeys was in breach of racing rules.
Ride Guide, which went live on Saturday, features Sydney and Melbourne jockeys giving their views on Saturday races through pre-recorded videos available exclusively on Ladbrokes’ wagering site.
However, senior stewards said they were “blindsided” by the launch and believe the product contravenes racing rule 83 (b), which stipulates jockeys must have permission of stewards to earn money outside of conventional racing streams – permission which has yet to be given.
Stewards also harbour concerns around the exclusive nature of the deal and have complained it penalises punters and other betting operators, while they said jockeys earning money through a betting site would raise questions around the integrity of the sport.
In a meeting held yesterday between representatives of stewards, jockeys and Ladbrokes, it was suggested that, in order to continue with the service, Ladbrokes may have to share information garnered from jockeys with other betting sites.
Having paid around AUS$2.4m a year for the service, and fending off competition from TAB during last year’s tender process, Ladbrokes is understandably reluctant to share such information with its rivals.
Talks are set to continue over the next three days as the parties try to come to an agreement in time for this Saturday’s racing, with suggestions jockeys could go on strike should Ladbrokes be forced to pull the service.
Ladbrokes declined to comment on this week’s developments but is understood to be surprised by the stewards’ reaction, given that stewards had been working closely with sports media company Unscriptd for nine months in the run up to launch.