Gambling Commission says it was misled by Ladbrokes in Black Dave case

The UK Gambling Commission has said it was misled by Ladbrokes during its investigation into the Black Dave case, which ended on Wednesday with a statement warning bookmakers about their handling of Rule 4 deductions in horse racing. The trainer David Evans was fined last year by racing’s ruling body for delaying notification of a non-runner, Tango Sky, so that he could back his other entrant, Black Dave, before its odds shortened, and he told Ladbrokes of his plan to withdraw Tango Sky at the time of placing his bet.

Ladbrokes had maintained it could not be sure, three years after the event, of the reason why it shortened the odds of Tango Sky shortly after Evans’s bet. However, the Commission found proof it did so "in order to maximise Rule 4 deductions" from winning bets already placed, and that Ladbrokes “had failed to appropriately review all information available to them prior to initially providing … inaccurate explanations”.

But Ladbrokes escaped punishment because its actions did not amount to a breach of the Commission’s licence conditions or code of conduct and the case pre-dated the Commission’s public statements about the fair application of Rule 4. Ladbrokes was given credit for bringing the case to the attention of racing’s regulator on the day of the race. It is understood the firm saved itself a mere USD 8.97 by trimming Tango Sky’s price in what was a weak race for turnover.

The Commission has now set out the manner in which it expects all firms to apply Rule 4 and officials apparently regard this as a “line in the sand” moment.

A Ladbrokes Coral statement said: “Our initial understanding of what had occurred when the price was changed proved to be incorrect, a fact that became apparent when we looked into the specifics.”

It added that shortening Tango Sky’s odds was contrary to its trading policy at the time and that it has since emphasised to its traders that markets must be suspended immediately if they receive such information in future.