BBC accused of ‘snobbery’ after breaking 47-year tradition of daily racing tips

THE BBC has ‘broken tradition’ by ending its daily horse racing tips after a disastrous run of results – and been accused of ‘snobbery’.

Radio 4 listeners were given daily selections as part of the sports bulletin on the Today programme.

But host Amol Rajan confirmed they will be reserved for only the biggest days in the future.

The University Challenge presenter said to sports reporter Mike Williams: “No racing tips from you today, Mike.

“That is because we have decided to break the tradition of having racing tips every day of the year.

“Instead we’re going to reserve the tips for the biggest days in the racing calendar.

“We will very much continue to cover horse racing, as we do so many other sports, not least through interviews with leading lights in the racing world.

“And we will sometimes continue to broadcast from the big ticket events like the Grand National festival, or Cheltenham Gold Cup week.”

It comes after we told you the horror run of results the tips had served up.

At the end of 2022 just one in five tips had been a winner, meaning punters were £69 down to level stakes that calendar year.

That was the third yead in a row the Beeb had let down punters, with then-reporter Mike Crawford saying: “This wasn’t a terrible year but you still lost £69 had you backed each of your horses to the tune of £1.”

On the other hand, if you backed Templegate’s bet in every race this year for £1 you’d be £25 up.

The decision to scrap the tips was first reported by the Daily Mail in January 2023.

Former BBC racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght said at the time: “At a time when racing’s media profile has been eroded and racecourse attendances have been falling this is another kick in the teeth for the sport.

“It is massively disappointing news, but probably not a complete surprise.

“Any publicity racing can secure is valuable and the Today programme audience is huge.

“Anything related to gambling clearly prompts debate at the moment and rightly so, but the tips are just a bit of fun rather than serious advice to bet and to suggest otherwise would be to misunderstand them.”

Reacting to Monday’s confirmation, Betting and Gaming Council chair Michael Dugher said: “This is sad news but unsurprising.

“It also says a lot of about the current standing of the sport at the BBC.

“I suspect there have always been people at BBC Radio 4 that regard the racing tips as a bit ‘below stairs’ and, if they like racing at all, they only care about the big ‘dressing up’ meetings like Royal Ascot or Cheltenham.

“Millions of ordinary people enjoy a regular bet – whether that’s on bingo, the lottery or sports like racing.

“There’s definitely more than a hint of snobbery from the Today Programme with this decision.”

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