Starting prices to be determined using off-course odds when bookmakers are allowed back on track after coronavirus restrictions lifted
- Move away from the traditional system has been considered for several years
- But the move has been forced with racing taking place behind closed doors
- Share of betting taken on-course was 1.4 per cent in the year end of March 2020
Starting prices will be determined using mainly off-course odds when bookmakers are allowed back on track, the Starting Price Regulatory Commission has announced.
A move away from the traditional SP system has been considered for a number of years before it was forced upon the industry by Covid-19 when the sport has taken place almost exclusively behind closed doors with mechanisms in place to form an SP based solely on off-course bookmakers.
The share of betting taken on-course had dropped to 1.4 per cent in the year end of March 2020.
Move away from the traditional SP system has been forced upon the industry by Covid-19
When bookmakers return to the track the on-course element is expected to make up around 10-12.5 per cent of the overall SP sample.
Lord Donoghue, chairman of the SPRC, said: ‘The SPRC has considered this change long and hard. We are now confident that the modernised SP system better reflects the market as a whole.
‘Punters can continue to have total confidence in the SP.’
