Forum to be as dirty as ever; RACING

There are not many safe seats for Conservative politicians these days and even fewer comfortable ones. If Lord Wakeham, Margaret Thatcher's former accomplice in the Commons and top Tory in the Lords, ever imagined he was in for an easy ride when he took over chairmanship of the British Horseracing Board then the kicking he has received since racing's Budget failure three weeks ago will have left him in no doubt that the change in careers has not brought the increase in popularity one might have expected.

Appointed on the ticket of having the political leverage to bend the ear of those with clout in Westminster, the failure to secure a cut in betting duty in the Budget was viewed by many, perhaps unfairly, as a personal failure on Lord Wakeham's part.

Loudest in their criticism were those who would have regarded Wakeham as a natural ally when he was a full-time politician, businessmen who have succeeded in their own little empires and cannot resist wondering out loud why every one else cannot do the same. Peter Savill, Celtic Swing's owner and now a newspaper pundit too, is one of Wakeham's chief detractors and he was buttressed last week when Bosra Sham's owner, Wafic Said, used the platform of the annual Gimcrack speech to call for a "dramatic reformation" of the BHB board.

Tomorrow brings the first opportunity since the Budget for everyone to have their say on what they think went wrong, the annual forum of the BHB's Industry Committee. This is one of the most dangerous events in the racing calendar as it brings together in one room representatives from each section of the sport, each determined to put over the self-interested views of their constituents.

At last year's forum the pack thought they had cornered the Committee's chairman, Matthew McCloy, who had the month before, on the way to the Breeders' Cup, suffered some embarrassment involving alcohol, handcuffs and the New York police. He sidestepped them, not neatly but certainly effectively, and the heat will be on others tomorrow.

The point at which it is all likely to get rather dirty is when the question of the BHB's financial strategy comes up. Not so much "What is it?" as "Where is it?"

The board made the mistake of allowing itself to be browbeaten into saying that it would come up with a business plan and has not yet delivered. For some reason the self-important, self-made men are unimpressed by this situation, usually beginning their criticism with the sentiment "If I ran my business . . ."

Everyone at the forum will have their own notion of how racing should be run and Heath Robinson would be proud of the number of wacky ideas that are aired.

It is in that context that it is possible to say that Thursday's meeting of the National Association of Bookmakers should produce progress of a more substantial nature for punters and racegoers -the NAB are usually worthy of an award from the Institute of Modern Dance for foot-dragging.

The main topic is how to dispel that between-the-wars atmosphere from the racecourse betting ring. On the agenda will be allowing bookies to set up pitches in areas of the racecourse other than the Tattersalls and Silver Ring enclosures.This raises the possibility of them becoming established in areas such as restaurants, bars and hospitality suites, in the members' enclosure and around the paddock. These areas have been the sole preserve of the Tote, an organisation that has perhaps not been given the credit it deserves for the way it has developed its racecourse facilities.

Customer care is another unlikely subject that has, at last, entered the on-course bookie's domain. A code of conduct for courtesy, information kiosks teaching newcomers how to bet, Satellite Information Services pictures available in the betting ring and the use of new technology to record bets and to issue detailed receipts are other improvements that could be on the way.

Better still, an agreed level of service after the last race, including late-payment facilities, could be put in place so that the race of the day will never again be the one in which you have to catch your bookie before he reaches his car.