POLITICAL RIP OFF OVER TOTE SALE TIMELINE SINCE 2000

TOTE SALE TIMELINE SINCE 2000
"Feb 2000 Labour government announces intention to sell Tote to racing.

"Late 2004 Bill passed to allow sale of Tote to racing.

"Sep 2006 Racing consortium's initial offer of £400 million is rejected.

"Mar 2008 Government commitment 'to make available to racing half the

net proceeds of any open market sale of the Tote."

"Oct 2009 Surprise announcement by prime minister Gordon Brown that Tote would figure in sale of government assets, forecast to raise £16 billion over next two years. Government sets March 2011 as completion date for sale.

"Sep 2010 Minister for gambling John Penrose says government now preparing to launch 'an open market process' to resolve future of Tote in late autumn and will update House of Commons "early in the new year."

"Jan 31, 2011 Government says 18 indicative proposals received, and 'selected number of parties' invited to advance to next stage.

"Mar 1, 2011 Penrose (below) tells Commons. "Given the current state of the national finances, I am afraid it will be extremely hard, or completely impossible , in my view, to argue that we should do more than a 50-50 split (of net proceeds between government and racing)."

"April 11, 2011 Race whittled down to two runners Betfred and Sports Investment Partners.

"June 3, 2011 Betfred win bid; £265m headline value, £180m net to be split 50-59 between Treasury and racing.

"Mar 2012 First instalment of the proceeds from the sale of the Tote promised to racing expected to have been paid

"2020 Final instalment of racing's £90m to be paid."

AND THE WAIT GOES ON .... RACING HAS YET TO SEE ANY OF THE £90m PROMISED FROM TOTE SALE

tote sale

RACING POST   JON LEES "And the wait goes on .... Racing has yet to see any of the £90m  

it was promised from tote sale. It could be as late as 2020 before the last instalment is finally
delivered. State-aid rules mean charities will be ones to benefit rather than prize-money."

FRED DONE OWNER OF BOOKMAKING FIRM BETFRED NEW OWNER OF THE TOTE

THE GOVERNMENT HAD NO BUSINESS TO ASSUME THEY HAD THE RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP OF THE TOTE, OR ANY RIGHT WHATSOEVER TO SELL THE TOTE.

http://www.thehorsemensgroup.com/betfredtotenews.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/may/31/tote-fred-done-martin-broughton 

Horse Racing: BHA accepts invitation to join 'racing' bid for Tote.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Horse+Racing%3a+BHA+accepts+invitation+to+join+'racing'+bid+for...-a0162205837

TOTE TO BE SOLD TO BETFRED JUNE 3rd 2011

Tote to be sold to Betfred for £265 million
http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/8187.aspx

3 June 2011 Last updated at 18:13

Betfred wins auction for Tote with £265m deal

Governments have been trying to privatise the Tote for 14 years

UK-based bookmaker Betfred has been chosen to buy the Tote after an auction process that began in November.

Betfred, which is paying £265m, said it would look at ways of exploiting the public body's commercial potential.

Horse racing will receive £90m from the sale and £90m will go to the taxpayer.

Betfred will take over the Tote's monopoly on pool betting at 60 UK racecourses and online, and will rebrand the Tote's 517 High Street outlets under the Betfred name.

As part of the deal, Betfred will keep exclusive control of the pool betting system on UK racecourses for seven years.

In return, it has committed to paying the racing industry £11m to March 2012, with payments of £9m a year for the next six years of the licence.

But there have been warnings that changes to the way that money is distributed could threaten the number of racetracks in the UK.

"We've got 60 racetracks. What happens is the Tote basically subsidises the smaller tracks because the money the Tote makes on any particular day is shared between all the tracks," racing journalist Neil Clark told the BBC.

"That's under threat so I fear that in, say, 10 years' time we'll have a sort of Premier League system and some of the smaller tracks will close down, which would be a great shame."

But Barry Nightingale, Betfred's finance director and the man who led the bid, said the firm was committed to the industry for the long term.

"We're investing in the Tote, we're going to be engaging with racing to create a lasting legacy and we will be involved in running the Tote for a long, long time," he said.

Betfred executive chairman Fred Done added that after the seven years were up, "there's no reason why this can't go on forever".


J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL
GOVERNMENT COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO GO OUT TO WORK EACH  DAY.

ALL THOSE WHO WORK FOR BT ARE ONLY KNOWN BY A NUMBER.

http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/ministers_speeches/7749.aspx

http://campaign4publicownership.blogspot.com/2011/06/press-release-on-sale-of-tote.html

GOVERNMENT CANNOT ALLOW THE SALE OF THE TOTE TO GO THROUGH

Dear Sir George

You cannot allow the pending sale of the Tote to go through.

The Tote belongs by right to all the true horsemen over the

centuries who have made horseracing what it is today,

for free, for peanuts.

The Tote belongs to British horseracing and needs now as

a matter of urgency to take up its true role to fully finance

this sport, to ensure that all those who work each day at

the dangerous sharp end to include the horses and their

owners, are properly recognised for the huge part they play

daily, to allow the public to enjoy a day out at the races.

British horseracing has a huge untapped potential still not

recognised. If the Tote is sold to the highest bidder now it

will be a huge smack in the face to all those who have truly

achieved bloodhorse literacy, and a fatal mistake for government.

Kind regards Margaret

J. Margaret Clarke
for and on behalf of Turfcall
Kingsclere

THE TOTE SIR ERIC PARKER RESPONDS TO THE GOVERNMENTS DIRTY DEALING OVER THE SALE OF THE TOTE

JON LEES FOR THE RACING POST TALKS TO SIR ERIC PARKER

“NEITHER BID IS GOOD FOR RACING” INSISTS PARKER.

 “ FORMER TOTE BOARD MEMBER SIR ERIC PARKER yesterday warned that not having the Totes’s exclusive pool betting license would hurt racing for a long time and said  neither Sir Martin Broughon’s bid nor that of Betfred were attractive propositions.

“Parker a Racehorse Owners’ Association, council member, spent many years trying to secure the Tote for racing and believes the sport’s leaders should have publically opposed its sale because without it racing will miss out on potential windfalls from the development of its pools international.

“We should have come out with a clear statement opposing the sale of the ‘Tote at this stage, 

he said: “We are the one racing nation that won’t have pool betting, which is just crazy. The Tote was set up in 1928 to provide an alternative to fixed – odds betting but the whole thing is going to finish up in the hands of a bookmaker or a private equity business. Its very disappointing.

“The government got the legislation through parliament enabling them to take ownership of the Tote on the back of giving the Tote to racing, but due to a variety of excuses, including the EC State aid rules that never got actually tested, they are going to flog it off for next to nothing .

“I always felt the tote should either stay where it is for the time being or be owned by racing.

“It’s the pool betting that’s the key. The international business will inevitably grow and if we can have really high – stakes pools with seriously big winnings it could assist racing, which is in considerable

difficulties.“If you have got private equity and investors looking for returns that isn’t the way it’s going to be. It needs to be owned by racing.”

‘Parker, who described himself as a ‘Backwoodsman’ , said racing which originally backed the unsuccessful Tote Foundation bid, should fight harder for the Tote.

“Neither of the deals are at all attractive from racing’s viewpoint and racing should come out and say the government is out of order.

“I would come out with all guns blazing and say we should have a judicial review, but there seems to be an acceptance that the government have made their mind’s up to exit irrespective of the

consequences. "I feel it will be a lost opportunity for the whole industry. We’ll be moaning about it for a long time to come if we loos it.

“I know that it is a seven-year license but seven years is a long time .

“While I am a supporter of the government I am certainly dismayed at the approach they are taking to this.” 

END

THE TOTE. J. Margaret Clarke responds for Turfcall  

GOVERNMENT BLOOD MONEY.

Means money snatched by governments off the backs of others skill and expertise. In this case snatched of all those who have achieved BLOODHORSE LITERACY over the last 83 years. This sharp practice has to be stopped, and stopped now for once and for all time.

‘THE TOTE’ belongs by absolute right to all those who have achieved ‘BLOODHORSE LITERACY’, because these are the people the government have been ripping off big time over the last 83 years. It could be said that the Tote has existed and has been bought over the last 83 years since 1928 time after time after time, by horseman who have achieved BLOODHORSE LITERACY.

Test

www.totesport.com/portal