You might not think this article is linked to this thread but imo it is,with the stakes so low in the uk due to the fact the levy(tax the bookies pay) has fallen so much.
All the big bookies have moved their operations over sees so they escape paying taxes and levy and so they can compete with Betfair,betfair have also moved or are in the process of moving and since they are not bookmakers don`t need to pay into the levy but im sure they make a small token payment,so they can say we pay into the levy...
A scheduled race at Leicester on Friday has been abandoned after it attracted no entries at the final, 48-hour declaration stage on Wednesday morning.
The ladbrokes.com South Croxton Handicap, a 12-furlong contest worth £5,000, which attracted seven initial entries, appears to have been the target of a boycott by owners and trainers who support the Horsemen’s Group’s tariff on prize money, The tariff claims that a Class 4 handicap staged on a Friday should be worth at least £7,000.
A maiden event on tomorrow’s card has now been divided to maintain the advertised six-race programme, which begins at 2.10pm. Only one of the six events will offer a purse in excess of the Horsemen’s tariff.
Leicester is one of the country’s remaining “independent” tracks, outside the control of a major ownership group such as Arena Leisure or Northern Racing. As such, it is reminiscent of a family-run corner shop in a world dominated by Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and particularly vulnerable to a boycott.
The abandonment of Friday’s race is Leicester’s second setback in a fortnight as a result of the owners’ campaign for higher prize money. Its meeting on 16 April staged the first walkover in Britain since 2007, when Saint Helena, the sole entry for a handicap worth £6,000, cantered down to the furlong pole and back in order to claim the purse.
Nick Lees, the chairman of Leicester, said that he was “very disappointed” by the situation, but not surprised. “”I had suspicions something like this was going to happen because the race had such a low entry,” he said.
William Jarvis, whose recent winner Bouggatti was among the initial entries for the race, said that his decision to declare the gelding was entirely down to the prize money on offer.
“I’m not running purely because the race falls some way below tariff,” Jarvis said. “I like Leicester as a racecourse, the facilities are good, they’ve made a big effort on the stable lads’ accommodation, but they’ve got to wise up. It’s nothing against Leicester, it is against the tariff. Other racecourses have raised their game and so should Leicester. This is the second time it’s happened this year. They’ve had one walkover and now a void race.”
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