Tasmanian racing officials impressed by Betfair

Harness Racing Tasmania Chairman John Hammond and HRT board members have given their personal tick of approval to Betfair, after meeting with representatives from the betting exchange including founder Edward Wray.

“I want to stress I am only talking from a personal viewpoint, but I was very impressed with the presentation,” said Hammond.

“This is all about finding a way to grow our industry, to find another stream of income. At the moment I can\’t see any growth out of just sticking with our TAB system,” he added.

In separate news, Betfair has asked its Chief Financial Officer, Owen O\’Donnell, to make way for a finance director with experience of initial public offerings, ahead of a potential £700m stock market floatation. O\’Donnell will leave on August 31 with an undisclosed pay-off.