ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Now then, it’s one of the most prestigious prizes in the horse racing calendar and this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup is as talked about as ever because everyone’s asking will former winner, Kauto Star, be running, how will the new whipping rules affect that race and others and, of course, how much money will the bookies be taking home? Joining me now is the Managing Director of Cheltenham Racecourse, Edward Gillespie, and a very good morning to you Mr Gillespie. One other question I think the punters will be asking, given that glorious weather behind you, is how much are you watering the course?

EDWARD GILLESPIE: Well we’re watering as I stand here, we’ve been watering for about two weeks now. To us, getting that ground right for the horses is absolutely number one priority and we’ll be watering today. The ground is on the slow side of good, if you understand that, it is what most trainers would want as their first or second choice and we will actually also be watering that on Wednesday evening before Thursday, Friday when we change from one set up at the course to another. So it is very important, we have plenty of water in our reservoir and we believe we have got that in exactly the right position and we are looking forward to the week with wonderful elements and great grass and ground for the horses to enjoy.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Okay, talk to me about the big economic issues, Mr Gillespie. Have gates been affected since say 2009?

EDWARD GILLESPIE: Here at Cheltenham we’ve been on an upward curve to be honest. 2008/2009 was when we obviously felt the effect worst of the financial downturn. Each year since it’s got stronger, racing generally you know has stayed remarkably strong, particularly the big marquee events like this. This year our figures here, we are looking at probably a record since we went to four days and there’ll be over 230,000 people here this week and that’s really encouraging, the fact that people are finding these big events. It will be the same for the Grand National, the Derby, Royal Ascot, these are the big events which hit the headlines. It’s not like that every day of the week in racing, there are challenges within the business but this week – and that’s not just individuals turning up, it’s also the hospitality here. We’ll be serving over 35,000 meals each day in our permanent and our marquee areas and that’s stronger than it was last year so year on year since 2009 there has been a gradual upturn, people coming regionally, from London and of course, most importantly, from Ireland.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: You mentioned some of the smaller meetings which take place week in, week out, day in, day out and of course they are grist to the bookmakers mill in terms of them putting them on in the shops and getting people to gamble on them. They’re not so well supported but need support, do you think the bookmakers are paying enough towards that, given the income they make from it?

EDWARD GILLESPIE: Well those meetings that take place mid-week normally are really geared for the off-course market, not for the people, the five or six hundred people who turn up. They are mainly geared for the off course market and that’s where racing is working very closely with government at the moment to try to replace the 1960s legislation which only allows a certain amount of money to be taken out of the gaming industry. Of course the gaming industry has changed out of all perspective, out of all recognition since the 1960s and at the moment we in racing are working with government to try to introduce a licencing format whereby anybody who takes a bet anywhere in the world on British racing has to have a licence to do so, so it’ll capture a commission from bets made on off-line, on telephones, all those ways that you can take bets nowadays and I think it’s very positive but that’s really what those mid-week meetings are for and of course we want to get best value out of those who are making a living out of that.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well good luck with that. I suppose one of the factors also on whether the bookmakers take home a lot of money from Cheltenham week are the horses that win and I’ll turn to the Gold Cup now. Of course Kauto Star and Long Run, there have been some worries that that rivalry may not be renewed because of an injury to Kauto Star.

EDWARD GILLESPIE: Kauto Star had a fall whilst schooling, that’s practicing his jumping about ten days ago and last week, day by day, Paul Nichols has been very open in making us all aware of where they are. He had a public gallop at Wincanton on Friday and the messages are very strong there. You’ve got to remember, this is a horse who is trying to run in his sixth Gold Cup and trainers know how difficult it is to get any athlete here for one Gold Cup or one race but to do it six times is quite remarkable and certainly we look forward and we hope very much that Kauto Star will be here. Long Run won the race last year on absolute merit, beat Kauto Star and Denman, Denman has since retired and those are the two big leading contenders but of course it’ll be a very competitive race and this place has a reputation for throwing up unexpected results so really our mind is very much on that, yes.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: It certainly does. I remember all those years ago being there when Norton’s Coin won the Gold Cup, what was he, 100/1 or something wasn’t he? I mean it is the case, isn’t it, at Cheltenham that there are what are called Cheltenham horses. Trainers and owners aim to win at the meeting and a horse that you may not expect could well win it so some of those outsiders could be good value.

EDWARD GILLESPIE: 100% correct because this is a different configuration of courses to many. It’s also run at a slightly stronger pace. It’s rather like in cricket, certain batsmen perform better at test matches than at county level, exactly the same with horses. Here it suits, this sort of level of competition suits horses that may not have been excelling during the rest of the season so very often the best way of finding a winner here is actually to look back twelve months to last years’ form. But these two horses at the top of the betting have obviously proved that they are Cheltenham horses but no, Norton’s Coin at 100/1 will be one of those who many people who were here remember. Very few backed the horse but hopefully this year, whoever wins, will be an immense champion.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: There’s plenty say they were on it now. But tell me lastly about this issue of the whip, changes made, much supported I would imagine, in terms of the number of times a jockey can use the whip but of course when they were originally made, t those changes, the jockeys didn’t like it. Do you think an adequate compromise has been found now for Cheltenham?

EDWARD GILLESPIE: I think it’s worked really well since October when the original changes were made and recently they’ve been changed slightly so there is more discretion from the local stewards, that once a jockey has used a whip eight times then they look to see in what circumstances that whip was used. We are all working together, it’s a very good example where I think racing has got it right to work with the jockeys, to work with the trainers and also to work with those people who are watching this sport from afar because it’s very important that the welfare of the horses is seen to be paramount. We are well pleased that the rules which have been changed for this week will hold this meeting in really good stead and it won’t be a big issue coming through here in the next four days.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Okay, Mr Gillespie, thank you very much indeed and good luck with Cheltenham week there. That’s Edward Gillespie there, with hundreds of thousands of people going to be standing there over the next few days, the Managing Director of Cheltenham Racecourse.

EDWARD GILLESPIE: Thank you very much.