The Great Betrayal: Nick Rust & Julie Harrington

There was a time when the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) was supposed to be the guardian of the sport—a body that protected punters, owners, and the integrity of racing. But under Nick Rust and Julie Harrington, the BHA didn’t just sell out to the bookmakers—it practically volunteered for servitude, wagging its tail for a belly rub every time the betting industry clicked its fingers.

What followed was a disaster for punters, a joke for owners, and an absolute triumph for bookmakers, who now control racing without the hassle of actually caring about it. The sport has become little more than a bottomless pit of midweek dross, designed not for spectacle, not for competition, but purely to fuel the insatiable turnover machine of the betting industry.

And perhaps no moment better encapsulated this grotesque betrayal than when Nick Rust—a man who was supposed to be representing horse racing—spoke out to defend Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs).

Yes, while racing struggled for prize money, while punters were getting account-restricted, while owners were questioning why they were still funding the sport, Rust wasn’t fighting for them. He was too busy pleading the case for high-stakes roulette machines in betting shops.

Nick Rust: The Bookmakers’ Man in Racing’s Clothing

Rust, a former Ladbrokes executive, was given the job of running British racing despite spending most of his career designing ways to extract every last penny from punters. And when the UK government finally cracked down on FOBTs, limiting the stakes from £100 to £2 per spin, he inexplicably took it upon himself to protest the move.

Why? Why was the CEO of the BHA—the man whose job was to protect and promote racing—so invested in defending betting shops' ability to fleece vulnerable people?

• Did it benefit racing? No.

• Did it help punters? Certainly not.

• Did it please the bookmakers? Oh, absolutely.

While campaigners rightly pointed out that FOBTs were high-speed, high-loss gambling machines, responsible for countless cases of financial ruin, Rust somehow thought it was his place to try and stop the restrictions. This was a bookmaker man doing a bookmaker’s job, all while pretending to be the champion of racing.

Meanwhile, punters who actually wanted to bet on horse racing found themselves banned or restricted, while the bookies showered losing FOBT players with VIP perks and “free bet” offers. Rust wasn’t defending racing; he was defending the bookies’ profit margins.

And when the FOBT limits were finally introduced, the bookmakers suddenly remembered that horse racing existed. With their casino-style cash cow gone, they ran back to the BHA, pretending to be loyal partners, and Rust, ever the obedient servant, welcomed them with open arms.

Julie Harrington: Same Disaster, Different Name

When Rust finally left in 2020—presumably to go and lobby for even more dystopian gambling innovations—the sport had a chance to correct course. It needed a leader who could stand up to bookmakers, rebuild trust with punters, and secure racing’s future.

Instead, it got Julie Harrington, a corporate drone with the dynamism of a garden fence. Under her leadership, the BHA has continued to default to whatever the bookmakers want, ensuring that:

• Prize money remains a national embarrassment. (Run a horse in Britain and win less than a decent pub quiz prize.)

• Punters continue to be treated as either gullible or expendable. (Win, and you’re banned; lose, and you get a free bet.)

• The fixture list is bloated with low-grade races. (Because the bookies need non-stop turnover, not quality sport.)

At every stage, Harrington has doubled down on the BHA’s core policy: absolute obedience to the bookmakers. Instead of fixing racing’s financial mess, she has stood by while owners leave, punters give up, and the sport slides further into irrelevance.

The BHA’s Blind Eye to Exploitation

Under Rust and Harrington, the BHA has developed a remarkable ability to ignore reality. While punters were being exploited through VIP schemes and predatory tactics, the BHA simply pretended it wasn’t happening.

• Winning punters? Restricted. (If you’ve ever successfully backed a winner at Cheltenham, you probably can’t get a bet on anymore.)

• Losing punters? Encouraged. (Because nothing says "responsible gambling" like pushing high-stakes offers on those already in the hole.)

• Fair betting? Don’t be silly. (The BHA only steps in when it’s time to write another pointless report.)

Bookmakers turned horse racing into a rigged game, one where you’re only welcome if you’re losing, and the BHA stood by and let it happen.

Punters and Owners Are Leaving—The BHA Still Hasn’t Noticed

The betting industry has already started moving on, funnelling punters into casinos, football, slots, and virtual reality greyhound races. Meanwhile, owners are quitting because the prize money is so bad they’d be better off betting on their own horses than running them.

And the BHA’s response?

• More meetings. (Presumably about how to have fewer meetings.)

• More committees. (Because nothing says "urgent reform" like a 12-month consultation process.)

• More grovelling to the bookmakers. (Who, in reality, don’t even need racing anymore.)

While Ireland and France flourish, offering real prize money and real protection for punters, Britain has become a bookmaker-run pantomime, where the people who care about the sport are treated like an afterthought.

Can Racing Be Saved?

Only if it finally breaks free from bookmaker control and starts standing up for punters, owners, and the sport itself. That means:

• Banning unfair betting restrictions: Either lay a fair bet, or get out of the game.

• Fixing the prize money crisis: If British racing continues treating owners like cash cows, there won’t be any left.

• Ripping up the bookmaker-driven fixture list: Racing needs fewer races, better quality, and a reason for people to care again.

• Taking control of its own future: If the BHA doesn’t start leading, there won’t be anything left to govern.

Final Thought: The BHA Will Wonder What Went Wrong—Everyone Else Already Knows

In five years’ time, when British racing is a sad shadow of its former self, you can guarantee the BHA will be holding an emergency meeting, trying to understand why punters left, owners disappeared, and bookmakers stopped pretending to care.

They won’t need to look far. The answer is simple: Nick Rust and Julie Harrington sold the sport’s soul to the bookmakers, and by the time the sport needed saving, the bookmakers had already moved on.

And what will the BHA do then?

Probably form another committee.