'My betting is down by more than 99 per cent' - Royal Ascot-winning owner who turned over up to £1m a day bemoans impact of checks

Owner Tom Morley has all but ceased betting on racing due to the threat of affordability checks and mistrust of bookmakers having previously turned over up to £1 million a day across his sports wagering.

Morley, along with his mother Julia, has owned the likes of Royal Ascot winners Prohibit, Goldream and Outback Traveller, and continues to have horses in training, most notably the prolific-winning sprinter Quinault.

While he remains an owner, the hostile environment around betting, which has resulted in online turnover on British racing plummeting since 2021 and created an estimated £3 billion financial black hole in real terms, means his gambling has slowed to almost nothing.

The owner blamed this on affordability checks, which require punters to provide sensitive information to bookmakers to show they can afford to bet above certain thresholds, and the obstacles some layers place on customer withdrawals.

Morley said: “I’d say my personal betting is down by more than 99 per cent in the last few years and the main factor is there's absolutely no way I would share any of my personal financial documents with bookmakers, full stop.

“As a result, I’ve cut back my betting so I don’t find myself in that position and, to be frank, I'm not certain I'd be able to get my money back if I tried to withdraw it anyway, such is the rigmarole you have to go through now. I don’t need to bet. It's something I enjoyed doing and put hard work into, but with things being like they are, I take the view of, what’s the point?”

On Wednesday, Arena Racing chief executive Martin Cruddace released a statement on behalf of his organisation, as well as groups including the National Trainers Federation (NTF), Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) and the Racecourse Association (RCA), which partly blamed the more than 25 per cent drop in turnover in the last two years on the actions of the Gambling Commission. 

Goldream (black and yellow silks) wins the 2015 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot for Tom and Julia MorleyCredit: Charlie Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Steve Tilley, a founding member of the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF), acknowledged the impact on affordability checks in putting punters off betting on racing but added the sport also contributed to declining turnover by too often producing an unappealing proposition for gamblers.

He said: “This isn't unexpected but if this doesn't wake people up then turnover will continue to decline until it reaches its basement level, and that's something no one wants to see. There's no part of racing that doesn't have some degree of responsibility for this and, ultimately, it's a confluence of different factors that have led us here. 

“We have to have a product that people want to bet on, which is racing that is competitive and exciting, and punters need to be able to do so as easily and as frictionlessly as possible. I'm not going to solely blame the bookmakers for everything as racing hasn't helped itself by becoming an expensive product for them and it also has a convoluted financial structure in terms of how the money flows through it.”

While online betting on racing has tumbled, gross gambling yield increased in the year ended March 2024, although the return of £771m made by bookmakers was below the level it would have reached if keeping pace with inflation.

Bookmakers have maintained margins by withdrawing concessions such as best odds guaranteed (BOG) and extra places, and Tilley said this was making betting on racing less appealing compared to sports such as football.

He said: “The regular person who has a Lucky 15 on a Saturday has probably noticed they are no longer getting BOG, or extra places, while also seeing that if they do a bet builder on football there are far greater concessions. It's no surprise that people are migrating away from racing as a result.

“If I wasn't an optimist I wouldn't be doing this, but there has to be greater interest taken in what punters have to say as representation at any significant level is just not there. We are the customer who pays for this sport and talking to, and listening to, bettors is essential to get us out of this situation.”

Read these next:

Betfair founder and owner-breeder Andrew Black warns about spiralling impact of £3 billion black hole 

British racing lays blame for £3bn black hole at door of 'out of control and unaccountable' Gambling Commission 

The £3 billion black hole: calls for urgent action on affordability checks as online betting turnover on racing crashes 

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