Co-authors trainer Phil Milner and owner George Sell wish to thank everyone who supported the open letter addressed to the board of the GBGB published on the 8th of April. The letter attracted 450 signatures in less than 24 hours, and was signed by many of the sport’s leading trainers (attached and unattached) as well as kennel staff, breeders and owners past and present from across the UK and Ireland.
We believe this demonstrates a level of dissatisfaction with the current state of the sport, which we share. We also believe it shows the urgent need to engage with GBGB to seek improvement on the measures raised in the letter.
We wrote the letter because we have both become dismayed and disillusioned with many aspects of the sport, and numerous recent events which have portrayed it in a negative light. We both reached the point where we felt we had to try to do something positive. We’re aware that not everybody agrees with our approach but we must stress we are doing what we feel is best for the sport as a whole.
Whilst we are also aware many would have wished to be involved in this process, we wanted to attempt to unite stakeholders and engage with the board in a positive manner about the issues that are most concerning to many in the sport. We worded a letter which we believed would achieve that and we sought feedback from highly respected individuals across the sport before publishing.
While we are pleased that GBGB CEO Mark Bird has agreed to meet with a small group of stakeholders to discuss the contents of the letter, we do not want this engagement to be a tick box exercise. It needs to result in meaningful change within agreed timescales.
We envisage the initial meeting as a chance to establish our position and schedule a series of further meetings to discuss each of the points on the letter in detail. We have replied to the GBGB’s approach and await their response.
We are assembling a working group of 10 to 12 signatories, all very respected within the sport, who can attend future meetings to represent us based on availability, experience and skill set. The group will be made up of individuals from across the sport who we believe have the respect of many and can best engage with the board in a manner which we believe will get results. When we have finalised the composition of the working group, we will inform all stakeholders.
During the process we recognise the need to formalise this group – to give it a name, committee, website and communication channels to keep stakeholders informed about developments arising from the discussions.
Both Phil and George are aware it is imperative that we communicate developments with those stakeholders who signed and indeed all in the sport. We believe it would be a huge advantage for each track to have an owner trainer rep to help this process and we’re working on other forms of communication.
Thank you again for your support. We truly believe that with unity we can engage with the board and effect the real change that the sport we all love needs.
George Sell
Phil Milner
