GBGB has issued the following statement in response to the article published earlier today – GBGB Board Rejects Code of Practice: Stakeholders Respond.
GBGB Chief Executive Mark Bird said:
“We entered the discussions with the Group with hope and the best intentions that we could find common ground that met their concerns and addressed a number of mutually identified issues. Unfortunately, whilst these meetings were productive, there were a number of areas where what they wanted to discuss fell outside the remit of GBGB as regulator of the sport.
“We had, however, hoped to find a way to adopting a sport-wide Code of Conduct which met their wishes and ours as a Board. Unfortunately, whilst we saw this as something that would apply to a variety of stakeholders across the sport, the Group instead wanted a focus on requirements for tracks to be a standalone document and published in advance of anything else. The Board did not agree with this approach and were likewise keen not to duplicate what is already in place through the Rules of Racing. The Group are right to say that the Board was, in principle, in favour of a Code. But when it came down to what it contained and who it covered, these differences became apparent.
“To be clear, it is entirely wrong to state that the Code was opposed by the promoters on the Board or that our inability to turn common ground into actions was in any way stymied by promoters. The Board contains a number of independent Directors from a variety of backgrounds as well as elected representatives of owners and trainers and it was the Board’s view as a whole, that any Code needed to share responsibilities across tracks and other key stakeholders in the sport.
“We believe that we were right to engage with the Group and indeed that they were right to enter into discussions with us. We find the tone of their statement today out of sync with what were, in many ways, very important and constructive discussions which have, and are, advancing some changes we are making to the Rules and to the sport.
“Both we and they have given a great deal of time and effort to these meetings, and we respect the Group for their intentions.”
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