RaceStraight
The British Horseracing Authority, in October 2007, launched an enhanced partnership with Crimestoppers in the name of RaceStraight. The aim of this anonymous reporting line is to encourage both the public and the racing industry to come forward with information about wrong doing in our sport.
RaceStraight enables people to contact their freephone number – 08000 852580 – with information about potential breaches of the Rules of Racing at any time of any day.
Callers to the number are never asked for their details and calls are not recorded or traced, thus guaranteeing the callers total anonymity. The calls are taken by trained staff and rewards are available for any caller who provides information leading to a positive outcome. Such rewards are paid without compromising a caller’s anonymity.
Who answers when you call?
Your call to RaceStraight will be answered by a person not a machine. RaceStraight call operators are specially trained in talking to those calling the 08000 852580 number. They do not use a script or fill in a standard form with your information. Each call is individual so call handlers are responsive to your needs and the information you have.
What do RaceStraight want to know?
RaceStraight wants your information NOT your name. You will be asked questions about the information you are giving– but you will not be asked your name, address, or anything that may identify you.
The call operators are not allowed to let the British Horseracing Authority know anything about you which may reveal your identity, e.g. if the call is about a neighbour of yours they will not disclose this.
RaceStraight want to work with the Industry in helping to keep it clean. To do that they need as much information as possible from you in order to pass useful data onto the Integrity Department. This means that the call operator will ask you questions about what you know. This helps check that your information can be acted upon by the Integrity team – the more detail they have the more likely they will be able to take action.
NEVER put yourself at risk or abuse a position of trust to discover information about wrongdoing.
What happens after I’ve said all I know?
The information is then handed over to the British Horseracing Authority to deal with. They can investigate wrongdoing in the sport and charge people, in order to bring them to justice.
The Integrity Department will thoroughly research the information you give RaceStraight in order to act on it. This ensures that information is correct and not given maliciously in order to set someone up.
The Integrity Department cannot act solely on anonymous information – there needs to be other information or evidence that supports RaceStraight information. The research they do on the RaceStraight information means they can use it with confidence.
Nothing happened after I rang Crimestoppers. Why?
Remember it may take some time for the British Horseracing Authority to act on the information you have given. There may be many reasons for this - the information may be crucial to a larger investigation and an action may take place much later on, or the information may remain on file helping an investigation at a later date. So even if you don’t see a quick resolution, don’t think your information hasn’t been of use to RaceStraight.
