Boycott of trainer interviews at Sandown on Saturday abandoned 'in best interests of the sport'
A boycott of televised interviews by trainers at Sandown this weekend was called off in the "best interests" of the sport on Tuesday as organisers sought to avoid "public conflict" in a divisive row over appearance fees.
The Professional Racing Association, which claims to represent more than 170 trainers, had made the threat to boycott interviews unless media rights companies and racecourses agreed to collectively pay it for doing so. Despite backing down, the PRA said it would "continue to intervene" when bodies within British racing's official governance structure were unwilling to do so.
The PRA had announced its intention to take action this weekend on Monday, saying it was in racecourses' capability to avoid the situation. On Tuesday morning the Thoroughbred Group, of which the National Trainers Federation is a member, issued a statement saying it could not support the PRA's action and calling for unity.
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The PRA board then issued its own statement which said: "The PRA has decided to call off the withdrawal of trainer interviews this Saturday to avoid further public conflict between two organisations that are fundamentally aligned. We believe this is in the best interests of the sport."
It emerged last weekend that the PRA had contacted Racecourse Media Group asking for £500,000 in media rights payments. Sky Sports Racing has also been approached and it is understood the proposals still stand.
Jockeys have received group interview fees since 2008, with the annual payment made to them by media rights organisations being used to subsidise their insurance, and the PRA had called for a similar arrangement for its members. Part of the payment would have been used to defray the administrative cost of the organisation, the PRA said.
However, Racehorse Owners Association chief executive Louise Norman, quoted in the Thoroughbred Group's communication, said: "The sport needs the media and broadcasting support, not a divisive demand that simply takes money for the administration of the PRA via a trainers’ commission.
"At a time when the sport should be focused on driving increased revenue and engagement into the sport, these disruptive headlines simply accelerate the loss of fans and owners, and continue to harm British racing as a whole."
The PRA statement said that trainers understood the positive effect of the media on the sport and that "the insinuation that any trainer who supported the withdrawal of interviews might be letting the industry down was therefore disappointing".
It added: "Jockeys as a group get paid for interviews on course, trainers do not. By raising this issue, the PRA has rightly highlighted one of the many inequalities in the distribution of racing’s finances.
"The main inequality though is the unfair distribution of racing revenue between horsemen and racecourses that filters down from the racecourse into prize-money. This is the PRA’s main concern, and we do not want the current issue to deflect from that focus."
The PRA statement called for racecourses to treat the sport's participants as partners in order to resolve those inequalities and for "horsemen and the BHA to demand a seat at the table of all future media rights discussions . . . so that horsemen finally receive their fair share of those deals and there is no misunderstanding as to how the income will be shared".
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It added: "It is unacceptable that racecourses have excluded them both from these negotiations for so long.
"The PRA will continue to intervene where those in the official industry structure are unwilling to do so. Our goal continues to be to have the whole industry working together to increase the income for British racing, but this cannot happen till these imbalances are resolved."
The Thoroughbred Group is currently in talks over commercial agreements itself with racecourses, which include media commitments being linked to tracks signing a deal, something it said presented "a more constructive blueprint for the growth of the sport".
Those talks, the Thoroughbred Group said, were "progressing" with the Racecourse Association and "several" individual courses, and with "increased alignment across a number of areas" of their proposals.
However, there was "still work to do" on finding agreement around the fairest way to measure racecourse contribution to prize-money, the Thoroughbred Group said, adding: "We look forward to the BHA board discussing the merits of the final proposal in the next few months."
It said in a later response to the PRA's announcement: "The Thoroughbred Group notes that the PRA has called off its proposed boycott of broadcasters this weekend.
"The proposed action highlights the depth of concern and frustration among Thoroughbred Group members, which cannot continue to be ignored. We look forward to advancing our constructive efforts to address these issues as we pursue a fair and transparent funding model."
The PRA is the brainchild of Plumpton owner Peter Savill, the former chair of the BHA's predecessor the BHB whose colours have been carried by high-profile horses including Celtic Swing.
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Thoroughbred Group presents united front against 'divisive demand' for trainer interview payments
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