Pro Sports Advice banned from filming at British racecourses after cash videos

British racecourse officials moved to shut Robert Heneghan out of filming at Cheltenham and Aintree after cash-staking videos sparked concern about how gambling content is being packaged for young audiences. The Jockey Club said Heneghan and Pro Sports Advice had not sought approval to record the videos on course, and said any future request to film at its racecourses would be refused.

The decision goes beyond one creator’s social media stunt. Heneghan has built a large betting audience online, with one report putting his following close to a million, while Pro Sports Advice says on its own website that it has more than 15,000 paying members and 1.5 million social followers. That reach matters in racing, where the line between tipster content, entertainment and responsible gambling messaging has become harder to police.

The controversy has sharpened because the videos were tied in wider discussion to Luke Littler, a name that already carries weight with younger fans. Gambling charities and parents have raised alarms about the effect of this kind of content on impressionable young men, especially when large cash sums are presented as part of the appeal rather than a warning sign. For racecourses trying to protect their image, the issue is not only what was filmed, but the atmosphere it creates around a sport already dependent on betting money.

The backdrop is an industry under pressure. The British Horseracing Authority previously said affordability checks were a factor in a 6.8% year-on-year fall in total betting turnover in 2024, while average turnover per fixture at major festivals dropped 12.4% over the same period. Against that slide, any content that appears to glamorize gambling while sidestepping on-course permissions risks deepening the tension between racing’s need for wagering and its need to look credible.

Heneghan is also involved in separate legal proceedings in Ireland, where in March 2026 he brought High Court action seeking an injunction over allegedly defamatory online publications by another tipster, Gearóid Norris. The wider picture is a racing media space where personalities, betting content and public trust now collide more sharply than ever, and where tracks may need clearer rules for creators before the next flashpoint lands on the rails.