William Hill has decided to offer an additional payment to those who took the firm’s own starting price of 16-1 about Untold Secret, a winner at Meydan on 8 November who paid 28-1 elsewhere.
After questions were raised by the Guardian, the bookmaker said it was “uncomfortable” with the difference between the two sets of odds on this one occasion and would pay the difference as a gesture of goodwill.
William Hill will continue to use its own starting prices for racing in the US, France and Dubai. The fact it was doing so at all came as a surprise to some industry insiders as well as the punter who complained to the Guardian but a spokesman for the firm said it had been using screens in its shops to make its customers aware it was no longer offering the “industry SP” issued by SIS and relied on by other high street firms.
“We are laying William Hill prices throughout the day and returning the SP as the last traded price,” Rupert Adams said. “The prices are a reflection of our liability positions and internal opinions, as well as taking into account the market place, including the exchanges, and in no way do we amend SPs after the off so that we have no risk.”
by Chris Cook
Catterick 12.15 Je Suis Charlie 12.45 Grow Nasa Grow 1.20 Travel Lightly 1.50 Cloth Cap 2.25 Mah Mate Bob 3.00 Buyer Beware 3.35 Nickelsonthedime
Ffos Las 12.35 Strong Resemblance 1.10 Al Dancer 1.40 Lisnagar Oscar 2.15 Leskinfere 2.50 Penn Lane (nb) 3.25 Avoir De Soins
Ascot 1.00 Wenyerreadyfreddie (nap) 1.30 Breaking Waves 2.05 Thomas Darby 2.40 Casse Tete 3.15 Battle Of Shiloh 3.50 Flying Tiger
Kempton 5.15 Merchant Of Venice 5.45 Jadeerah 6.15 Inhale 6.45 Frederickbarbarosa 7.15 Padura Brave 7.45 Ring Dancer 8.15 Villette 8.45 Imperial Court
As it happened, William Hill beat the industry SP on two of the first four races at Meydan on Thursday, matched it once and was lower once.
A lack of transparency in betting generally is a subject of concern for Simon Rowlands, a former chair of the Horserace Bettors Forum. He said: “I do not have a big problem with the principle of a bookmaker returning its own starting prices, providing that fact and the fair methods used are made very clear to the customer throughout the process.
“What I do have a problem with is the lack of regulatory oversight and probity of betting markets in general and of SPs in particular, which potentially opens the door to chicanery. Without such oversight, what is to stop a bookmaker shaving a tick or two off a price to suit their own ends?”
William Hill flatly denied a suggestion that potential liabilities deriving from accumulator bets might be taken into account when the firm determined its SP for a horse if it happened to be the final runner in a potentially expensive bet. “One hundred per cent, no,” was Adams’ response.
