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Racing authorities in Hong Kong have threatened to withdraw the rights of Australian TABs to bet on their events if the newly-licensed Betfair Down Under attempts to operate on Hong Kong meetings.
Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) executive director Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said his board was opposed to the principle of betting exchanges and would move swiftly and aggressively to prevent unauthorised use of its racing product.
"We are extremely concerned that if you give people the opportunity to profit directly from backing a horse to lose, you threaten the whole principle of this sport," Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
A major concern in Hong Kong is the cultural implications inherent in the form of wagering offered by betting exchanges.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said Hong Kong racing could suffer more from betting exchanges than in other countries because Chinese punters were "very sceptical" and exchanges would offer another avenue for that scepticism.
"If anything unusual happens, they are immediately looking for someone to be punished," he said.
"In this culture, if you introduced betting exchanges you would destroy the sport."
Australian punters began regular betting on Hong Kong's two meetings a week earlier this year under an agreement with the HKJC.
Engelbrecht-Bresges stressed the HKJC would only take action if Betfair broadened its operations to include Hong Kong.
He also denied local media reports that his club could seek payment from betting exchanges in return for permission to use the Hong Kong fields.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, will trial a reduction of the take-out from win and place and quinella and duet betting from 17.5 per cent to 10 per cent in a move to address falls in turnover.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said the move was designed to both win back punters who bet illegally and to demonstrate to the Chinese government that a lower take-out could still mean a greater return.
As a result the HKJC has underwritten the trial with a guarantee to the government that the $HK8 billion in tax it now pays would be maintained.
"We will pay it out of our own funds if necessary," Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
The 25 per cent taken from other betting pools would remain because of the difficulty illegal operators have in operating on exotic forms of betting like trifectas and trios.
© 2010 Published 09/12/05
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