Bookies attacked over failure to help horse fund; RACING.

BRITAIN'S major bookmakers have been criticised for failing to contribute to a fund being set up for the welfare of retired racehorses.

The British Horseracing Board is behind the drive to raise pounds 200,000 for the first year from within the racing industry.

This money would go towards the running costs of three approved centres specialising in retraining former racehorses for second careers.

The Rehabilitation of Racehorses scheme, for which charitable status will be sought, is expected to distribute funds from this autumn.

Money has been pledged from all sections of the industry, with one exception, as Andrew Parker-Bowles, on behalf of the BHB, revealed.

Parker-Bowles disclosed that he had received a fax from John Brown, chairman of William Hill, who informed him that this week he had met with colleagues at Ladbrokes and Corals.

Reading the letter, Parker-Bowles quoted Brown as writing: "All of us consider this to be a most worthy cause but are agreed that it should be properly funded by the Levy Board.

"We therefore intend to ask the chairman of the bookmakers' committee to raise this at the next Levy Board meeting."

Parker-Bowles described the bookmakers' stance as disappointing.

He said: "Here we have the Tote agreeing to give a significant amount, the Levy Board agreeing to give a significant amount and the bookmakers saying in a polite way it's a marvellous cause but we're not giving.

"We rather believe that from some of these many millions of profits bookmakers make from a horseracing, which in 1998 was pounds 350 million, a small sum - I'm thinking in terms of tens of thousands - should come back into the welfare of horses."