Should a trainer be sponsored by a bookmaker ?

Its all about perception Magic. Nobody is saying that anything sinister is going on. Well, I'm not in any case. However, I can understand why the public in general will question it. If fancied runner of a sponsored trainer or jockey doesn't perform to expectations it leaves a sour taste in the punters mouths. Thats when all the conspiracy theories come out the woodwork. This is especially the case for jockeys. Surely this is not good for the industry.
As it is racing has a poor image. Most non punters will go to great lengths to tell us how crooked the game is. We should be trying to encourage people to get involved with racing and not discourage them by fueling the fire even more.

Spot on Kabz......If the Metro Police were sponsored by the local Taxi Association ,we might jump to some conclusions....lol
No remuneration of any sort should not be paid to any party if the receiver is in a position to repay,in some form,which constitutes an underhand benefit.Whether it is in fact happening should not be open to conjecture.

I accept Magic's explanation,but why have the details never been explained by the industry.What is the nature of Winning forms sponsorship of jockeys as they are certainly associated with Hollywood bets?....that should also be explained,in the interests of transparency.

Hundred purrcent, Kabz...perception is reality.

Same deal with Winning Form and the jockeys, really. It's an advertising medium (britches, caps) more than anything, although they do get certain little exras, like the R10k cheque we very openly presented to Muzi for riding 50 winners since we started sponsoring him. Furthermore, all WF sponsored jockeys at present are BEE candidates - everything is above board, and even politically correct. We have done nothing, whether with our sponsorships, oujr owning of horses, or anything else, that we are ashamed of.

We can't stop people thinking what they want to think, but we go to sleep at night knowing that we are completely above board. What other sponsors do is up to them, and it's not only bookies whose motives for sponsoring jockeys or trainers have come into question. Some people will find a conspiracy in a jam sandwich, anyway.

Magic, Hollywood has the best reputation and no one can blame them for doing what they can to promote themselves and even help some of the battlers.

The question still remains (in principle) whether people who need horses to get beat for a living should be sponsoring trainers and riders. As B.Irwin said "perceptions".

Someone like Tarry will have to consider the perception of what he may say in all honesty, when a few hours later fortunes of money roll onto a horse he professed not to really fancy and then it hacks home with the jockey having no reservations. Some people may wonder what the trainer told his sponsor who is a significant bookmaker. Maybe Tarry also gets blankets and thats the end of it. But I don't think he's breaking any rules either way, it's just our imaginations which reach out for the worst.

Our industry should consider if this is what it wants. I wonder if banning a sponsorship would change anything though.

I suppose racing will always have rumours no matter what.