Henry Birtles is moderating the ‘Fresh Angles’ session at the Asian Racing Conference which is taking place this week from 26th-28th January in Mumbai. In his remarks, Henry will advise the assembled racing dignitaries that ‘fresh thinking is absolutely critical if we are going to move racing out of its marginal position in the broadcast world’.

Federations should consider splitting entertainment rights from betting rights. Racing needs betting. But we also need new people to watch racing on mainstream television and get interested in racing as a sport, which will in turn generate interest in betting to everyone’s benefit. A major race should never be denied exposure on a globally recognised network because a rights holder has sold exclusively to a racing dedicated channel. Federations, rights holders and agencies need to work together for the good of the sport.