curious

Two months ago, the Australian regulator Austrac said it was bringing civil penalty proceedings against Entain. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/feb/11/entain-ceo-gavin-isaacs-ladbrokes-coral CEO of Ladbrokes owner Entain steps down after five months in role Company will be run on an interim basis by the chair, Stella David, after exit of Gavin Isaac Julia Kollewe Tue 11 Feb 2025 09.28 GMT The chief executive of Entain has left the business in a surprise move just five months after joining the owner of bookmakers Ladbrokes and Coral. Britain’s biggest bookmaker said Gavin Isaacs was leaving by mutual agreement, and with immediate effect. Entain’s share price fell by nearly 11% on the news. Isaacs, 60, an Australian lawyer with 25 years of experience across the global sports betting, gaming and lottery industries, had come out of semi-retirement and relocated from Las Vegas to run the FTSE 100-listed company in September. Ladbrokes gambling ads shown to parents on app used as a baby monitor It is unclear what Isaacs will do next. It is understood that his departure was not related to the group’s strategy or performance. The sports betting and gambling company will be run again on an interim basis by Stella David, the chair, until a permanent chief executive is found. She also assumed the role of interim chief executive for nine months during the previous CEO search. Pierre Bouchut, a senior independent director, will act as interim chair of the company, which is valued at more than £4bn. In a short statement, David said: “Entain is making strong progress in delivering our strategic priorities. We would like to thank Gavin for his contribution.” This means that David, on an interim basis, is one of a small group of female chief executives at FTSE 100 companies, of which only 10 are run by a woman. Entain, which also owns the Gala, Foxy Bingo and PartyPoker brands, said it expects underlying profits to hit the top end of the £1.04bn to £1.09bn forecast range for 2024. The company said it was “comfortable” with market expectations of £1.1bn profits for the coming year. Isaacs previously worked for the US gambling companies Scientific Games Corporation, DraftKings, Bally Technologies and Aristocrat Technologies, and was inducted into the American Gaming Association’s hall of fame in 2022. He was hired for his US experience, but running a UK-listed company proved very different from his previous career, sources said. Analysts at Goodbody described Isaacs’s departure as “disappointing,” which they said created “another period of uncertainty around management”. “The group spent nine months to hire Gavin Isaacs, and by all accounts he was regarded as a strong candidate by stakeholders,” they wrote. They also said David was very well regarded when she previously held the role and “as such is a safe pair of hands”. Entain’s results for 2022 are under investigation by the Financial Reporting Council, which is scrutinising the audit conducted by KPMG. In 2023, Entain fell into the red with an after-tax loss of £879m after spending £585m to settle an investigation into alleged bribery at a former Turkish business, and taking an impairment charge of £190m on its Australian business. UK authorities had investigated possible bribery offences by one of its former Turkish subsidiaries, which was sold in 2017. Two months ago, the Australian regulator Austrac said it was bringing civil penalty proceedings against Entain. The company was accused of “serious and systemic” non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, and not having the right procedures in place to spot and block criminals from using its sites. It is unclear what fines could arise but Entain has said the costs could be “material” and the uncertainty unsettled investors. Entain said in December it had cooperated fully with Austrac throughout the investigation and embarked on a programme to overhaul its Australian systems and processes, due to be completed in June.

So, the Wairoa Cup still ends up a 5 hour drive from the clubs home base and most of their members who are still subsiding the stake.

It's not a lack of rules in either case that I'm talking about. Sure, the rules could be tightened in both cases. They both are significant integrity and welfare matters. What I'm saying is that the enforcement could be improved and should be for both. They have plenty of resourcing and technology to do that. It shouldn't be a question of choosing to police any one thing ahead of another.

It shouldn't be an either or question imo. Their job is to police ALL the rules.

Blinkers on?

Yes, and I can't think of an instance anywhere in the world in the last 50 years where a horse dropped dead in a race due to EIPH. Pulled up maybe. That sort of catastrophising is simply ill-informed and frankly unhelpful.

Really looking forward to seeing her back at the races now. Hope she makes it.

Pardon?

Seems to have disappeared after a run on the concrete there?

Yeahh they say that but don't actually share their ratings or pricing.

I'd be one of those. A 10% increase in turnover is meaningless given the trend from higher margin tote products to lower margin (and much more risky) FOB including the increased % of sports betting which is all FOB. Where are the GBR figures? Surely Entain must be reporting those to TABNZ? So, why do they not make them available to us? From what we can see neither turnovers, nor GBR are exactly "booming".

Technical issues aside, the site continues to exhibit the childish name-calling behaviour when disagreeing (otherwise baseless) that is symptomatic of its degeneration.

That's a good question.

I think the site is past it - well and truly.

It seems that if turnovers, let alone revenues were actually up, they would be shouting the figures from the roof tops? Aside from isolated events, I haven't seen that from Entain, only others saying it - like the Oaks as above.

There are others on that site who he allows to do the same thing but it's it's very selective, and if you disagree you are moderated or your posts are deleted.

They do at Foxton apparently. Maybe the overworked pigeons are struggling to get the Ellerslie ones to Dick Street?

Haha. Were you one of them?

Meeting News Timaru Trials Cancelled Timaru Trials have been cancelled due to insufficient nominations

Me too. This language is so unprofessional. Partly why if I watch live racing here, I keep the mute button on most of the time. For heavens sake, if they can't use standard English, send them back to high school English class until they can and before you put them on air.

The other thing here, whether or not an aftermath can include positive outcomes, all definitions say it follows a 'significant' event. I'm struggling to see an 18k maiden at Taupo qualifying. And the overuse is staggering.

I wouldn't count on it!

A 25 year contract to operate a monopoly wagering outfit?

They might have a case against RV here given they are licensed by Racing Queensland and the correct account was registered there?