'It's getting people through life, and it's positive' - Aidan O'Brien defends racing's relationship with betting

Aidan O'Brien has launched a strong defence of racing and its relationship with betting in the wake of the crackdown on gambling advertising in Ireland's Gambling Regulation Bill that could see the sport lose live pictures on Racing TV. 

O'Brien was speaking to the Racing Post for an exclusive interview on Sunday's newspaper in which he reflects on City Of Troy's bid to end his Breeders' Cup Classic hoodoo next weekend, the "cynical" attitude of those who question his conviction that the Derby winner is the best horse he has trained and how he mentally prepares himself for defeats.

Many punters will be backing City Of Troy to succeed at Del Mar and O'Brien also defended the rights of racing fans to bet as they choose, arguing that an interest in racing and betting helps many people to get through each day.

"Racing is the one sport in the world that people can do all their life," he said. "They can have a bet, or not have a bet. They can have an opinion, or not have an opinion. When they are working in their various jobs they can get through their day by thinking about horses and racing and they can come home, watch it on TV, watch different jockeys, different trainers, different owners. It's getting them through life, and it's positive. I think people should all be entitled to have a little bet, or a big bet, if they want. It's a free world.

"There are so many older people out there, the likes of retired people who don't work anymore, and watching racing and reading what you guys and girls write and watching interviews, marking off the horses they fancy in the paper, that sort of stuff is getting them through the day and getting them through life. We don't even realise how big and how important that sort of stuff is."

Aidan O'Brien: "I always say a problem isn't a problem when you know it's a problem"Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Without wishing to minimise the impact of gambling addiction, O'Brien feels that help should be given to those in need without affecting those who can have a bet safely and responsibly.

He added: "Some people get addicted to things. You can get addicted to smoking or to this or to that, but if people get addicted to something it's a case of helping them out and getting them through it. What about the other 99 or 95 per cent of people? Don't take it away from them.

"People can be helped and they can get through it. They can get to a place where they still love it without being addicted. I always say a problem isn't a problem when you know it's a problem. Somebody with an addictive personality might get addicted to drinking tea, that's the way it is."

Read more from Aidan O'Brien in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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