Sport is made for betting

The thoroughbred industry in Ireland is worth hundreds of millions to the Irish economy, yet you'd think it was purely for ribbons judging by the regular incompetence of its ruling body, Horse Racing Ireland. The bookie who left Listowel races last weekend owing thousands has missed his monthly fee payment to HRI by direct debit SEVEN months in a row. Dalton: ‘HRI should not have allowed me to stand at Listowel’ . . The Killarney-based bookmaker, however, maintains that HRI and it’s betting division manager, Paul Finegan, should emerge from the debacle with little credit. Explained Dalton: "My direct debit to HRI bounced seven months in-a-row. That direct debit is for pitch fees and levy and would come to approximately €2,000 a month. "I owed HRI €4,500 and they stood me down for two and a half months. I then got a loan for €4,000 and Paul Finegan, on behalf of HRI, took that and told me I could pay the monkey (€500) when I had it. "I returned to bookm...

An Irish bookmaker has done a runner owing thousands after doing his arse at the recent Listowel racing festival. Bookmaker 'on the run' after leaving Listowel owing 1000s of euros Bookmaker Ger ‘Dixie’ Dalton is believed to have left Listowel last Saturday owing punters thousands of euros. Horse Racing Ireland officials have been trying to contact him and have written letters but it seems Dalton is nowhere to be found after ”running out of money and unable to pay out on winning bets”. . . This may not of been a one off incident with sources suggesting that a fellow bookmaker had threatened to object to Dalton’s licence following an incident at a Clonmel coursing meeting were there was a major issue but the matter was later resolved. To the bookie's credit, he did at least report a cashflow problem to the levy office (bookmakers' supervisor) on the course before fleeing. However, the fact this guy has had issues before will leave a very sour taste in the mo...