Geoff Banks Exclusive Interview

Firstly, what does the festival mean to you as a bookmaker and as a racing fan?

The festival is the principal betting event of the year with its competitive racing and small fields. Even though I’m a bookie – it’s as enjoyable for me to attend as any other racegoer. Form of horses in evidence through the preceding national hunt season is often meaningless at Cheltenham.

As a bookie, could you tell us about your biggest or most memorable wins and losses at the festival?

 I can’t discuss specifics. Suffice to say many wagers involve five figure sums and there’s plenty of lively betting and opinions.

Your father was a very well-known bookmaker said to be years ahead of his time in terms of promotion. What lessons of the trade did you learn from him?

I learned the value of looking after punters as customers and treating them with the respect they deserve. Many modern day bookmakers view punters as ‘fodder’ – poor business plan.

What favourites worry you the most at the festival this year?

Un De Sceaux because the Arkle cuts up so badly and has become meaningless. Some Arkle winners have come out subsequently and been moderate – it shows the lack of enterprise in certain connections.

As a fan, have you got any fancies of your own so far?

I don’t head to the festival fancying horses or studying form. It’s a pure betting experience for me.

Has there been anything to report in the ante post markets with your customers so far? Any general market support or any individual big ante post bets?

Most ante post markets are quiet – Mullins being able to send 20+ horses to one race and multiple targets have reduced most markets to a nonsense. We can’t formulate markets until we have reasonably firm entries.

Obviously the retirement of AP McCoy will dominate the headlines as we approach the end of the season. Could you give a few words on McCoy?

McCoy is most certainly greatest jump jockey of the modern era. It’s nonsense to say others are better. Records speak for themselves. He’s retiring at the peak of his career , it appears knee jerk to me. It’s of course acceptable to retire as you feel your powers on the wane, but not after riding fastest 200 winners in a season – and with Jonjo O’Neill apparently incapable of training horses. The retirement of McCoy is a huge blow to a struggling code.

What other factors do you find tend to affect people’s betting habits more than they should, and what should be focused on more when considering what to back?

Too much focus on betting exchanges from bookmakers and punters alike. Always look for value- even if it’s an exchange negative. With such poor liquidity in evidence and nobody laying horses these days other than BOTS, punters need to get back to old fashion form at the best meetings. The lesser meetings – particularly the all-weather – are rife with crooked activity and should be avoided as a medium. Except if you’ve nothing better to do.

Who in your opinion are the best or most underrated jockeys over jumps and on the flat? Likewise, who are the best or most underrated trainers? As a bookie, are there any yards which you fear runners from more than others?

"Geraghty is outstanding - he made Henderson what he is today,
at least in part."

Geraghty is outstanding – he made Henderson what he is today, at least in part. His talent is still under rated in my view. I fear Nicholls because he works his horses, as he should, and his consistency is admirable.

People hear the bookmakers complaining regularly about having a losing day after a few favourites come in, but most punters are still dubious about how often the bookmakers actually make a loss. How much of the time would you say the bookmaker tends to come out on top?

On track – and if you’re not trading every penny back on exchanges – the bookmaker is 2/1 to win these days, so many adverse factors – betting to exchange odds is patently unprofitable. Off track most firms have turned to other products to make money. Hence the festival will be characterised by amazing offers and deals which guarantee a loss in many races – this never used to be so. But other products such as machines and football have taken over.

You’ve been fairly outspoken in the past about the current state of both bookmaking and racing. Could you outline what the main issues are in the industries?

Racing has to man up to its issues and stop heading the advice of vested interest. Field sizes are decimated, trainers have far too many opportunities particularly at the graded end of the sport, people are no longer racing midweek, Channel 4 struggles for viewers when it’s fed a diet of 5 runner events, most racing is sponsored by betting, TV networks such as ATR and RUK and the Racing Post are totally ruled by reliance on betting as advertisers.

What steps would you take to improve racing for the connections, the punters, the bookmakers?

I would cut the programme by a quarter. I would dissolve the current structure of the BHA which has proved ineffectual and weak in addressing racing’s issues. We need a strong and totally independent governing body to manage the sport, to include the racetracks. Every decision should be based on what’s best for racing and not a racetrack, owner, trainer or bettor.

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