“The evidence from Ireland is that such a step was successful in helping small bookmakers stay in business.”I would argue that any measure that keeps betting shops open and keeps the public coming through the door is in racing’s interests.”The enormous interest in the Lottery across the nation because of its large payout has revealed racing’s failure to attract a big enough pool to capture the popular imagination.”The Tote cannot offer that without more outlets. Gordon Richards’s grey is now as low as 11-10, with William Hill – a price that is easily irresistible given that he is due to be put through his paces at Carlisle racecourse this morning and that the weather still has sufficient time to deliver unsuitably swampy conditions.The bookmakers have a longer and more tortuous course to complete if they are to counteract the Lottery by being able to take bets on which numbers will come up.The suggestion, by Robin Cook, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, at the Tote annual lunch in London, that in the event of Labour winning the next election betting on the Lottery would be considered came with the proviso that William Hill and Ladbrokes should install the Tote Direct terminals that enable customers of the Tote, Coral and numerous independent firms to bet straight into Tote pools. Racing

JOHN COBB
As the odds against One Man tightened for one Tote-sponsered contest yesterday, the price against bookmakers being allowed to bet on Lottery numbers shortened dramatically at another Tote event.One Man’s position at the top of betting lists for next Thursday’s Cheltenham Gold Cup has, of course, been bolstered by the injury which has forced last year’s Blue Riband winner, Master Oats, to miss the race. Will I be watching from the grandstand or will the Barbour be my only protection against the weather’s worst? No contest.. But from the reaches of the second-last, the crescendo engendered by a crowd of 40,000 is guaranteed to make the adrenalin run fast – even if it cannot do the same for your rapidly weakening selection.The determination to boldly go where no sane punter would dream of going has yielded some dramatic and some sad moments: Norton’s Coin’s gentle but firm indication that he had had enough of racing at Newbury’s final ditch, Carvill’s Hill’s monumental error at the first fence of the 1992 Gold Cup and the pulsating threefold leap at the last in the same race as Cool Ground, The Fellow and Docklands Express fought it out.There will be new heroes next week, fresh hard-luck stories for sure.

On the same basis that in most choirs no one can hear anyone else because he is bellowing too much, it is impossible to know what noise the crowd is making when you are shouting yourself hoarse from their midst as your nap of the day lurches up the Cheltenham hill. With modest exertion, it is often quite possible to watch the first in the back straight and still be comfortably in situ for the last on the run- in. Cheltenham is a problem because of the dyke that runs diagonally across the course, but at Newbury it is worth taking in four fences of the Hennessy (three of them different).Inevitably, the further away from the stands you get, the sparser the company becomes. The water-jump at Newbury on a big day can be almost as crowded as the seafood bar, but a trek to one of the ditches at Wincanton, both as far away from the winning post as they could be, usually ensures that two Red Cross officials and a fence builder are the limit of intelligent life.But the open spaces are certainly the place to appreciate the roar of the crowd. A three mile chase on many courses will see the field jump the same fence three times.Then there is the question of crossing the centre of the course.

The moments before the off are almost irrelevant from a distance but experienced at close quarters that last minute before the tapes go up for the Gold Cup is unbearably tense, and exciting.The sceptic might object that it is all a bit like spectating at the Tour de France – three hours waiting around for five seconds’ action But this is where tactics come in Race selection is important. No longer is it a case of a distant group of thoroughbreds and vivid jockey silks gliding smoothly round while spied through binoculars, but rather a thundering, snorting pack bearing down on each obstacle to the accompaniment of slapping whips and cursing pilots. A few leave the (relative) comfort of the terraces for the dubious privilege of waving vigorously via the cameras to a hawk-eyed relative as the field streams over the water-jump, but the real outdoor aficionado makes the effort because only out there can you have any idea of the awesome power of Monsieur Le Cure at an open ditch, or the frightening speed with which Alderbrook flies his hurdles.
Away from the stands, it is a different spectacle altogether. But for the adventurous five per cent, no trip to the races – particularly next week’s Cheltenham Festival – would be complete without at least one sortie into the vast beyond of the centre of the track to watch a race from beside a fence or hurdle. For 95 per cent of racegoers, there are only two feasible vantage points from which to witness the afternoon’s events unfold – either the cheek by jowl security of the stands or the slightly guilty comfort that lies within sight of the TV screen in the main bar or the hospitality chalet. Will it act before yet another disaster?The writer is a senior partner of Davis Arnold Cooper, which has been involved in legal actions resulting from the Piper Alpha oil platform explosion and Hillsborough disaster.. This reform is outside the Law Commission’s remit, but it is well within the power of the Government.

Putting safety records in the public domain was broadly welcomed but not pursued It is still needed. Bad safety, just like bad financial performance, would have to be publicly justified or remedied. Lives would be saved.This idea was the main thrust of the Corporate Accountability Bill, which I prepared and my firm put forward more than four years ago, to government, opposition, the HSE, the TUC and employer groups. What is needed is legislation requiring all companies to put their safety record (including details of warnings and prosecutions) on public view. By this means, safety failures could not be swept under the corporate carpet until disaster strikes, and the public could compare safety records, as well as prices, before purchasing. The better way forward is to encourage management to become more safety conscious before the event.Most disasters are the result of years of sloppy practices and ignored warnings. Adding a new criminal offence to an already over- stuffed statute book may do more for lawyers’ pockets than for safety.