Racing claimed a measure of success in its battle with the betting industry over the next levy scheme, after the Levy Board’s three government-appointed members recommended that bookies should pay levy on bets placed on foreign racing and that the “threshold” system, designed to benefit smaller betting shop operators, should be abolished. However, their report to government suggests that the target yield for the next levy, the scheme by which bookmakers contribute a percentage of their gross profits to the sport, should be £75m to £80m, well short of the £130m to £150m that racing had insisted it required.

Both sides are now likely to spend several days studying the details of the submission to Jeremy Hunt MP, the culture secretary, who is required by law to determine the 2011 levy after the racing and betting industries failed to reach agreement. However, action on thresholds and a levy on foreign racing were two significant pleas in racing’s submissions over the levy, and both have received a favourable response from the Board’s independent members.

If accepted by the government, the report could ensure that the sharp decline in levy yield in recent years will be arrested. However, the proposal to abolish thresholds is likely to face fierce opposition from bookmakers, who will claim that it will threaten the existence of a number of betting shops where margins are already tight.

British online gaming firm Sportingbet is looking forward to a boost in turnover from this year’s soccer World Cup after reporting a 7 percent rise in second-quarter profit.

“It will help the turnover but I’ll be surprised if the profit gets a particular boost,” Chief Executive Andrew McIver told Reuters.

“Bookmakers don’t tend to make a lot of money on things like the World Cup because there’s not many teams and the predictable ones tend to be there at the end,” he said.

Bet on Football at EurosportBET

Sporting Bet, which gets almost 90 percent of its bets from Europe, said it was pleased the second quarter ended Jan. 31 came in line despite the recessionary backdrop.

The firm reported adjusted operating profit of 11.2 million pounds ($16.7 million) and saw net gaming revenue rise 22.3 percent to 52.6 million pounds.

But margins dropped to 8.2 percent in February from the group’s target of about 10 percent after a run of football results went against the firm despite more bets being placed.

“It was really down to more favourites winning in European football,” McIver said, adding that 65 percent of all the bets takes in Europe are on football, with the percentage increasing every year.

McIver also said that consolidation was not a priority for Sportingbet unless the right deal came along.

A tipster vowed to have a champion racehorse killed in a bid to stop it running in a major race – because he forgot to put a bet on it.

Andrew Rodgerson, 26, realised he faced owing £56,000 to a betting syndicate when he discovered he was too late to place the last piece of an accumulator on Conduit winning the last of a series of races. So he used terror tactics to try to force the owners of the four-year-old colt to withdraw it from the £500,000 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

After getting the numbers of the Ballymacoll Stud from newspaper adverts, Rodgerson sent a string of email and text messages to the manager with one reading: “We don’t believe you are taking the death of Conduit very seriously.

“We want the horse removed from the King George race this weekend. If you co-operate the horse will live. There are people in and around Newmarket ready and willing and there will also be people at Ascot on Saturday.”

But just two days before the race, Rodgerson was tracked down by detectives from two police forces who traced the messages to his bedroom 300 miles away in Balderstones, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where he had set up a secret betting base. It emerged he had become so busy at his regular job at a travel agency he forgot to complete the sequence of bets he had been asked to place – leaving his syndicate out of pocket. Conduit later romped home to victory.

On Monday, Rodgerson, 26, pleaded guilty to threatening to commit damage and was sentenced to 34 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work. His not guilty plea to blackmail was accepted.

Bolton Crown Court was told the offence occurred in July when Conduit, which had already won £1 million in prize money, was favourite to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Peter Reynolds, the manager of the Ballymacoll stud in Ireland where Conduit was bred, initially received a text message which said: “Dear Peter, we would just like to warn you should Conduit run in the King George then the horse will be killed.” Mr Reynolds then alerted the colt’s trainer. “Mr Reynolds was concerned that, after 37 years in the industry, he had never received any threatening messages before,” said Duncan Wilcock, prosecuting.

Four hours later, Mr Reynolds got an email from a person who claimed he had heard a conversation in a bar in Manchester in which the horse Conduit was discussed and he claimed to have overheard that if it ran the horse would be killed. Mr Reynolds waited five days before calling police but then got the personal email from Rodgerson warning of people “ready and willing” to kill Conduit if he ran in the race.

Rodgerson’s mother later told police her son had had a gambling habit since he was 19 and kept large amounts of money in his bedroom. Rodgerson – said to come from a religious family – said he often placed £300-400 bets each way on particular horses up to five times a day and built up his syndicate through friends at a cricket club.

Defending, Joseph Hart said: “He met local businessmen who liked to put money on the horses, and liked to make clever bets. He was put in touch with a gambling syndicate and there were people putting up much bigger sums of money. “They told him when and where to put the bets on. They would bet on the best horses at the best races at the best odds.

“He was working in a travel agency but in the background he had the betting syndicate, which would insist on him putting bets on all through the day at specific times with specific companies and he forgot. “He had a great big bet to put on Conduit on the accumulator and he forgot. He was too busy at work and didn’t put it on at the right time with the right company. “And he suddenly found himself realising that if Conduit won he would owe this syndicate around £55,000. He was utterly and completely terrified – he simply didn’t know what to do. So he panicked and committed an unsophisticated and stupid crime.”

Conduit went on to win the race, netting more than £500,000 in prize money. In November, he won his second consecutive Breeders’ Cup title before running fourth in the Japan Cup. He is now standing as a stallion in Japan.