Racecourse Betting Act 1928



Racecourse Betting Act, 1928.

(18 & 19 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 41.

An Act to amend the Betting Act, 1853, to legalise the use of totalisators on certain racecourses, and to make further provision with regard to betting thereon.

[3rd August 1928]

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Betting Act, 1853, not to apply to racecourses.

1 Betting Act, 1853, not to apply to racecourses.

(1) Nothing contained in the Betting Act, 1853 , shall apply to any approved racecourse or any act done thereon on the days on which horse races but no other races take place thereon.

(2) Notwithstanding any rule of law or enactment to the contrary, it shall be lawful on any approved racecourse, and whether in a building or not,—

(a ) for the Racecourse Betting Control Board and any person authorised by them to set up and keep a totalisator;

(b ) for the Board and any person authorised by them to operate, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and for the purpose of effecting betting transactions on horse races only, a totalisator on days when horse races but no other races take place on the racecourse;

(c ) for ally person to effect betting transactions by means of a totalisator lawfully operated:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be taken to imply that the Board, or any person authorised by the Board, are entitled, in the exercise of the powers conferred by this subsection, to infringe in any manner the rights of any other persons in or over any land or any right of property.

(3) For the purposes of this Act—

(a ) the expression ‘totalisator’ means the contrivance for betting known as the totalisator or pari-mutuel, or any other machine or instrument of betting of a like nature, whether mechanically operated or not;

(b ) the expression ‘approved racecourse’ means any ground used for the purpose of a racecourse for racing with horses, and any ground adjacent thereto, in respect of which ground, or adjacent ground, there is in force a certificate of approval issued under this Act.

S-2 Establishment of authority.

2 Establishment of authority.

(1) For the purposes of this Act there shall be established a Racecourse Betting Control Board (in this Act referred to as the Board) which shall consist of a chairman and eleven other members.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, and may acquire and hold such land on or adjacent to a racecourse as may be reasonably required for the purpose of operating a totalisator thereon and such land as may be reasonably required for the offices of the Board, and may sell or lease any land held by them which is not required for the aforesaid purposes.

(3) The chairman shall be appointed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

(4) The other members of the Board shall be appointed as follows:—

By the Secretary of State for the Home Department

1
By the Secretary of State for Scotland 1
By the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries 1
By the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1
By the Jockey Club 3
By the National Hunt Committee 2
By the Racecourse Association, Limited 1
By the Committee of Tattersalls 1

(5) Any member of the Board may be removed at any time from the Board by the body or person by whom...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT