JB retweeted
Today's Charlie Hall Chase offers a £56,950 prize to the winner.
In 2009, it was £57,010.
Allowing for inflation, today's prize money would need to be £94,000
In real terms, the winner's prize money has declined by 40%
Tradition isn't keeping the prize unchanged for 20 years
JB retweeted
Just donated what I would have won for my chosen charity @actnforchildren ❤️ ❤️ amazing cause 😘🙏🏽
Just found out that @MayaJama was supporting @actnforchildren
Thank you Maya, AFC (or NCH as it was) made all the difference in my life and I’m forever grateful 🙏 😍
JB retweeted
I've always maintained that the opening of betting shops to accomodate FoBTs was a reckless business gamble.
FoBTs were dangerous and were always going to be restricted.
Yet racing knowingly climbed into the same bed.
The industry was opening betting shops just for FOBTs. It was a business gamble & you lost. Eggs and baskets. teapaw.org/BritBookmakers/status/…
Nine runs as a two year old, seven wins, four of them Group Ones. The best two year old season since Pretty Polly? Has to be right up there with the great juvenile fillies. Seriously impressive.
Banish Sharon…
Murder Michael…
Banish / Murder James B & Bash…
Finalists
Maya, James A, Kenny
Romesh, Joanne, Leigh-Anne
Job done.
Traitors would be home and hosed.
JB retweeted
cuttingcomment.com/dear-bha-…
I haven't promoted this Lee at all, but I think there are things in here that need saying for all of us that are genuinely interested in racing. You might find it an interesting read.
High street betting shops would have disappeared a long time ago without gaming machines. But in taking advantage of deregulation through clustering and other exploitative behaviour, bookmakers are also responsible for the demonisation of gambling. Authors of their own downfall.
JB retweeted
This seems like a great time to reshare my favourite Sir Patrick Stewart performance, ‘What has the ECHR ever done for us?’ It’s just perfect in every possible way … including the ending 😂😂😂 RIP.
🎥 The Guardian
Bookmakers are authors of their own downfall by profiteering during the boom years of machine gaming. How these were allowed to proliferate on the high street in the first place is the real scandal. If the government is serious about preventing harm AGCs should be closed down.
Video: Inside the "slot farms" targeted in the budget, where you can lose £100 in minutes, as staff brings snacks and drinks to your seat.
theguardian.com/society/2026…
And yet racing continues to support these pervasive and pernicious slot machines out of pure commercial self interest. Once again they have backed the wrong horse. theguardian.com/society/2026…
JB retweeted
Patrick Stewart remembering the moment Hugh Jackman took his hand during a screening of Logan, as they both sat watching in tears.
A beautiful story about friendship, saying goodbye, and what these characters meant to the guys who played them.
Rest in peace, Sir Patrick Stewart.
First time I’ve seen this video. What a remarkable, generous and kind man. Always such a commanding presence, on stage and film, but he also used that to such great effect to support the causes that were close to his heart.
I am genuinely devastated. As a Trekkie I've long been a fan of Patrick Stewart's gifts, and he has given us so many moments to treasure. His portrayal of Captain Picard was legendary and unrivaled. I could spend the next week posting clips of my favorite scenes that he carried. Measure of a Man. Best of Both Worlds. Family. The Inner Light.
But the moment that lives in my brain forever was this exchange he had with a fan, blogger Heather Skye, at Comicpalooza 13 years ago, where he shared his experience as a survivor of domestic violence.
It was a moment of candor and vulnerability that you rarely see from men in public life, and so needed for such an important issue. More than that, it revealed the depth of his character.
We have lost someone utterly irreplaceable today.
“Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.”
Thank you, Sir Patrick, for daring us to reach for the stars and dream of a world where we take care of each other.
🖖
“Death comes for us all…
That’s all I know for sure.
The question isn’t are you prepared to die… The question is who will you be, when you close your eyes.”
RIP Patrick Stewart. Legend.
JB retweeted
Worth remembering that in the next few weeks @PFNicholls will become the most successful jumps trainer of all time as he passes Martin Pipe’s record of 3930 winners in Britain. He is also closing on the landmark total of 4,000 wins over jumps including French and Eire.
“Any man can win, it takes a good man to lose…” Wish @PFNicholls the best of luck and success this season. With his incredible talent with horses I am sure he will bounce back.
"You put a lot into this game. You eat, sleep, drink it for 24 hours. It hurts, of course it does..."
@PFNicholls opens up about losing horses like Old Park Star and Pic D'Orhy when big owners Gordon and Su Hall and the De la Heys moved their horses away from Ditcheat...
JB retweeted
The reality about gambling.
Not an explosion.
Not a public health emergency.
Not a crisis.
Excluding the Lottery, it's the smallest share of UK household spending since records began in 1985.
Yet policy gets ever more restrictive and taxes ever higher, justified by a "crisis" the data doesn't show.
The real growth is in the black market, which overregulation and overtaxation are feeding.
Here’s Farage on the same subject: While I may agree with what he’s saying (there’s a first for everything!), I’m afraid the proliferation of casino gaming & slots, both in shop & online, has sealed the fate of UK betting, undermining racing’s commercial framework in the process.
If Rupert Lowe & Nigel Farage are the biggest political supporters of betting & racing then I’m afraid the sector has a big PR problem. Read the responses to both the post below and Farage’s budget press conference (to follow). They’re completely out of step with public opinion.
This quoted post is unavailable.
Let’s not forget that the Racing Post also supported the campaign against reducing the maximum stake per spin on FOBTs / B2 machines. The headline “Catastrophic” ran on the front page in January 2018, quoting Martin Cruddace. How short sighted that is proving to be 8 years later.
🗣️ "A big dent in racing's finances!"
Racing Post editor Tom Kerr explains why horse racing faces "more pressure" following today's UK Budget 🥵
#HorseRacing #Racing #UKBudget