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The British Horseracing Authority said on Tuesday that it would be “happy to help” any trainer with “concerns about information from their yard being used for betting purposes”, a few hours after Nicky Henderson’s outstanding chaser Altior was scratched from Saturday’s Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton Park following a drift in the ante-post betting from 1-4 to 5-2.
There was no market on Saturday’s race on the Betfair betting exchange, but Altior started to drift with the bookies on Tuesday morning in the face of strong support for his stable companion Top Notch, who won the race last season. By 11.43am, when Henderson confirmed on Twitter that Altior would not be running at Kempton, Top Notch had been cut to 5-4 favourite from around 5-1.
While emphasising that the Authority “does not comment on speculation around specific incidents”, a BHA statement on Tuesday evening said that “in general, however, we do have the ability to look into these matters if there is a concern around inside information being used to back or lay horses, if it is appropriate.” The statement added: “Should any trainer have concerns about information from their yard being used for betting purposes, then we would be happy to help them look into it.”
Altior is understood to have missed his usual spot in the first lot to exercise at Henderson’s stable on Tuesday morning and worked with a later lot instead, though no decision on whether or not he would run on Saturday had been taken at that stage.
Henderson later explained the reasons behind the decision to miss Kempton in a blog post on the website of bookmaker Unibet, which has a long-standing association with the trainer and sponsors his yard.
“We do not feel he looks his absolute best,” the trainer said, “and despite working well on Saturday he is still not 100% compared to previous years and he could still be feeling the side effects of the antibiotics he was given to treat the abscess on his wither.”
Nicky Henderson
✔
@sevenbarrows
Altior will not run @kemptonparkrace on Saturday. Full details in my @UnibetRacing blog shortly.
Altior will now be aimed at the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on 8 February and will have a single entry at the Cheltenham Festival in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, which he has won for the last two seasons.
In terms of the amount of money involved, anyone who backed Top Notch for Saturday’s race on Tuesday morning armed with the knowledge – or very strong suspicion – that Altior would not be running is highly unlikely to be retiring on the proceeds, even if Top Notch obliges this weekend. Bookies are not stupid and their willingness to knock back any bet they don’t fancy is legendary, so the actual amount staked at Top Notch’s overnight price of 5-1 was surely derisory.
Since these were ‘positive’ bets for one of Altior’s rivals rather than wholesale laying of the favourite on Betfair, it is also more than likely that the rules on misuse of inside information were not breached.
If the betting public ever loses its faith in the overall integrity of the markets, however, racing is doomed – and there is nothing that knocks the punters’ confidence quite like the feeling that somebody else’s card has been marked. On that basis, the abrupt switcheroo between two horses from the same stable in the ante-post betting on Tuesday looked dreadful, and was attracting critical comment on social media for well over an hour before confirmation of Altior’s absence arrived.
In one sense, though, Tuesday’s events did provide some clarity for backers as Henderson also confirmed on his blog that any thoughts of running Altior over two miles and five furlongs in the Ryanair Chase in March are now over. Confusion over multiple targets at Cheltenham is one reason why ante-post betting on the Festival has lost some of its popularity in recent years, but punters now know that it is the Champion Chase or nothing for Altior and he is the narrow favourite at 100-30 to make it three wins in a row.
There was no market on Saturday’s race on the Betfair betting exchange, but Altior started to drift with the bookies on Tuesday morning in the face of strong support for his stable companion Top Notch, who won the race last season. By 11.43am, when Henderson confirmed on Twitter that Altior would not be running at Kempton, Top Notch had been cut to 5-4 favourite from around 5-1.
While emphasising that the Authority “does not comment on speculation around specific incidents”, a BHA statement on Tuesday evening said that “in general, however, we do have the ability to look into these matters if there is a concern around inside information being used to back or lay horses, if it is appropriate.” The statement added: “Should any trainer have concerns about information from their yard being used for betting purposes, then we would be happy to help them look into it.”
Altior is understood to have missed his usual spot in the first lot to exercise at Henderson’s stable on Tuesday morning and worked with a later lot instead, though no decision on whether or not he would run on Saturday had been taken at that stage.
Henderson later explained the reasons behind the decision to miss Kempton in a blog post on the website of bookmaker Unibet, which has a long-standing association with the trainer and sponsors his yard.
“We do not feel he looks his absolute best,” the trainer said, “and despite working well on Saturday he is still not 100% compared to previous years and he could still be feeling the side effects of the antibiotics he was given to treat the abscess on his wither.”
Nicky Henderson
✔
@sevenbarrows
Altior will not run @kemptonparkrace on Saturday. Full details in my @UnibetRacing blog shortly.
Altior will now be aimed at the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on 8 February and will have a single entry at the Cheltenham Festival in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, which he has won for the last two seasons.
In terms of the amount of money involved, anyone who backed Top Notch for Saturday’s race on Tuesday morning armed with the knowledge – or very strong suspicion – that Altior would not be running is highly unlikely to be retiring on the proceeds, even if Top Notch obliges this weekend. Bookies are not stupid and their willingness to knock back any bet they don’t fancy is legendary, so the actual amount staked at Top Notch’s overnight price of 5-1 was surely derisory.
Since these were ‘positive’ bets for one of Altior’s rivals rather than wholesale laying of the favourite on Betfair, it is also more than likely that the rules on misuse of inside information were not breached.
If the betting public ever loses its faith in the overall integrity of the markets, however, racing is doomed – and there is nothing that knocks the punters’ confidence quite like the feeling that somebody else’s card has been marked. On that basis, the abrupt switcheroo between two horses from the same stable in the ante-post betting on Tuesday looked dreadful, and was attracting critical comment on social media for well over an hour before confirmation of Altior’s absence arrived.
In one sense, though, Tuesday’s events did provide some clarity for backers as Henderson also confirmed on his blog that any thoughts of running Altior over two miles and five furlongs in the Ryanair Chase in March are now over. Confusion over multiple targets at Cheltenham is one reason why ante-post betting on the Festival has lost some of its popularity in recent years, but punters now know that it is the Champion Chase or nothing for Altior and he is the narrow favourite at 100-30 to make it three wins in a row.
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What a ridiculous statement from the BHA - "Should any trainer have concerns about information from their yard being used for betting purposes, then we would be happy to help them look into it."
I thought trainers were allowed to bet by the BHA and isn't Nicky Henderson personally paid and sponsored by a bookmaker? The BHA is not fit for purpose. |
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Tedious last month as the great horse did not run in the King George nor the Desert Orchid and now the Silviano Conti .........I look forward to seeing him run ,but really do not want to hear any more until the tapes go up and he is actually racing.
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Well they can't blame the exchanges for this one yet no mention about the actual bookmakers involved and why they continued to take every last pound they could out of it.
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Maybe it would of looked too obvious on Saturday if Top Notch won and Altior (fav) lost making it 3 Saturdays on the trott.
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He has been doing it for years...
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annoys me that the r post say bets were refunded on betfair, there was no market on betfair and if there was it would not be refunded, betfair is the EXCHANGE, sportsbook is just another bookmaking firm.
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ashleigh.....Hadn't read the article in the RP which is supposed to be an industry paper yet this article from the Guardian makes it clear that the exchange had no market.
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I agree with robbie
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UPDATED 7:01PM, JAN 8 2020
The BHA has revealed that Altior has yet to be scratched from Saturday's Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton and called on trainer Nicky Henderson to clarify Altior's participation "in the interests of fairness and transparency". In a statement on Wednesday evening the authority said it would be sending a BHA vet to Henderson's Seven Barrows yard to examine the two-time Champion Chase winner. On Tuesday Henderson ruled the star chaser out of the race, but not before Altior's price had drifted significantly with bookmakers including the trainer's primary sponsor, Unibet. A BHA statement read: "The BHA can confirm that Altior continues to hold his entry for the Unibet Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton Park on Saturday. "As a result of this, the BHA has, in the first instance, spoken with Mr Henderson and reminded him of his obligation under the rules to immediately scratch a horse if, at any time between closing and the deadline for declarations, the trainer becomes aware that the horse is not going to run. "The BHA has also arranged for a BHA veterinary surgeon to examine the horse tomorrow. "In the interests of fairness and transparency for racing fans and the betting public, it is for Mr Henderson to clarify his plans publicly as soon as he can. "The BHA will monitor the situation but we won’t comment on wider issues or any potential rule breaches at this point." In response, five-time champion jumps trainer Henderson said: “I have nothing further to add to what is in the BHA statement this evening.” Racing professionals are encouraged by the BHA to make "market sensitive" information live via their own channels such as social media or through the wider media before extra information is put forward in bookmaker-hosted blogs. |
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Nothing is going to change re the bookmaker sponsorships of trainers and jockeys,its very very substantial easy money for doing basically bugger all.
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has yet to be scratched.................
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And yet the BHA do nothing regarding the £500 free bet account Henderson , Walsh and co have with a leading bookmaker .
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doing a lot of 2 horse in a race and outsider lately is he thinking of calling it a day soon and getting pension money stored
wonder what the salary is from bookmaker 100k a year 150k at a guess so who comes first to know punters or paymasters |
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Reporting Altior to have been in good form since the original announcement of his non-participation was made, Henderson told the PA News agency on Thursday: “As much as I would have liked to run him on Saturday, I feel that under the circumstances it is better not to – and therefore he will be taken out of the race and wait for future engagements, of which there are not very many, except for the obvious ones being the Clarence House (at Ascot) and the Game Spirit (at Newbury).
“The BHA vet came to see him this morning and totally agrees with me that the horse is fit, sound and ready to run, but obviously he doesn’t know the horse as well as we do and appreciates we might have seen a difference in him over Monday and Tuesday.” They should throw the book at him , he has been caught red handed. |
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So what will the BHA do now after their vet reported that Altior was fit, sound and ready to run?
Answer....nothing. |
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So what will the BHA do now after their vet reported that Altior was fit, sound and ready to run?
Answer....nothing. |
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I think Altior was left in just in case something untoward was to happen to Top Notch. And, those with inside info had made a killing backing Top Notch (I think he was 12/1 now 4/5) even before the race. The irony is Hendo has agreed with the BHA vet that Altior is fit, sound and in good health, and is ready to run.
As a result of this injudicious behaviour Hendo has taken a few downward notches as far as I'm concerned. |
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didnt we have a similar "situation" with Hendo/Altior and Unibet a few years ago think it was over his non participation in the tingle creek.
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didn't hendo lump on no winners at chelt once to cover expenses,through the book at Swindon for similar thinking
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Yes - Henderson did place that bet
The 'No Winners' Losing bet - as he DID have Winners - being paid out of the Winning Percentages that he, consequently, received from said Winners at that Cheltenham Festival. |
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Bloke is a top notch fraud in my book going back to the Moonlit Path doping scandal which was followed by the Binocular doping scandal.
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Did Binocular fail a drugs test?
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He has certainly gone down in my estimations, and I'm sure quite a few other racing fans as well. Totally stinks. Amazing the horse has "issues" yet when an independent vet pops up, all is well. mmmmmmmmm
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heard lucky singing his praises on sunday never refuses him an interview ,his time etc,etc,maybe lucky and co should start to ask themselves why,
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So you stink!
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binocular was a late withdrawal from the 2011 champion hurdle because a steroid was still in his system. If you remember in the 2010 race which binocular won he had gone out to 1000 on the exchange because Henderson had said publicly the horse wouldn't run.
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Yes posy I well remember that year it hit 1000 and all the uproar surrounding it.
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The BHA need to ask for all communications between Henderson and his bookmaker friends
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Who is running the show?
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I agree that it stinks bit not because of the health of Altior. There was nothing wrong with Paisley Park when he was withdrawn either. The difference is that Emma Lavelle didn't tip off a bookmaker so far as we know. It now seems that they no longer plan to run Altior over 2.5 miles again.
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What a load of absolute Bollox. All these trainers are all proxy gamblers taking advantage of their inside information, and controlling sports media with disinformation !!!
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The non-participation of Paisley Park on the day of the race was entirely different as the ground had deteriorated massively post a further deluge (it was already very soft), and this was highlighted prior by his trainer.
Hendo had since alluded to a slight intention of running Altior this weekend hence his declaration on wednesday afternoon despite Hendo indicated Altior would not be running the day before. If there is any justice something untoward could still happen to Top Notch (another of Hendo), then Hendo could be left with no potential financial reward on the day of the race. Clearly self-interest before (others) for this trainer. |
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It absolutely stinks, and you'd have to be delusional to think that private conversations are not occurring between Henderson and Unibet employees about his horses because of the (paid for) relationship he has with them.
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I wonder if her majesty is a little embarrassed at awarding him a knighthood recently as already said by some on here he has got away with plenty over the years his influence on the framing of races at some tracks is to powerful.
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Market Rasen 10/02/2004
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What was that about foxy ?
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Trabolgan posy
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I recall a whiff of something surrounding that horse ; I know he was off the course for a long time but will have to do some research to remind myself of the details.
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He had won his two previous races in December and January
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