RACING: The Turf Club will decide today if the transfer of its Registry Office can go ahead in the light of the Government's decision to create an extra seat on the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) board.

The carefully worked out agreement for the make up of HRI was changed by the Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh to include a union representative and that has been greeted with dismay in the Turf Club.

A special meeting with only one topic on the agenda is scheduled for noon and the Turf Club Chief Executive Denis Egan said yesterday: "The members are disappointed that this has happened and there is a feeling of being let down."

The Turf Club representatives on the HRI board did not attend the new body's meeting last month because they had not received a mandate from their members.

Today a decision on whether or not to accept the new make up of the HRI is expected to be made and that could have implications in the restructuring of racing's ruling body, especially in regard to the vital Registry Office.

That re-structuring is the HRI's immediate priority for 2,002 according to Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh.

He was speaking yesterday on the back of encouraging statistics for 2,001 which saw on course betting rise by 4.6 per cent to €215 million despite the impact of foot-and-mouth in the spring.

The one downward figure was the attendances total of 1,296,430 which was down 4.3 per cent but that was blamed in part on the loss of the Punchestown and Fairyhouse Festivals.