It has been alleged that senior figures within the sport demanded £10m in exchange for the TV rights. Lord Hesketh, a former Tory minister and the owner of Towcester racecourse, has made the allegations in a legal action against the Racecourse Association, one of the sport's governing bodies, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
The allegation concerns an event which Hesketh claims took place days before a meeting in November 2000, at which the UK's 59 racecourse representatives met to discuss whether the TV rights for the sport should be awarded to Carlton, or atteraces.com, which also includes Arena Leisure.
Lord Hesketh claims that days before the meeting Richard Johnston, the managing director of Racecourse Holdings Trust (RHT), told Carlton's media executive Nicholas Markham that if the broadcaster hired RHT as a consultant at the price of £1m a year, the RHT would in turn support Carlton's bid for the sports rights.
The support of the RHT has an enormous influence in the world of horseracing, and the body represents courses including Cheltenham and Ascot.
Carlton turned the offer down and days later at the crucial racecourse owners' meeting Johnston spoke and said that the RHT was not supporting Carlton's bid. The rights were subsequently awarded to attheraces, which at the time was known as Go Racing (the collective was forced to change its name after discovering that two other companies were using the domain online).
Lord Hesketh claims that Carlton's bid was the stronger of the two, but that the media owner was passed over due to its failure to collude with the RHT. Although the Racecourse Association released a report accepting that a deal was suggested by the RHT's Johnston, the body said that although his actions were inappropriate they had to be judged in light of the circumstances prevailing at the time.
Lord Hesketh, however, was not satisfied with the enquiry and feels that the matter has not been investigated properly.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
