Companies: ARE    NOR    SLY    SPO   

Now that the British Horseracing Board and the Office of Fair Trading have reached a provisional agreement over the reform of British horseracing, allowing an increased number of fixtures with courses 'bidding' for races within a 'regulated' environment, Seymour Pierce believes there should be significant benefit to quality race courses, such as those owned by Arena Leisure and Northern Racing.

SP is touting the former as an outperform, as it has a new Attheraces proposal and will dole out its first dividend this year, but the latter is a hold based on a high valuation and funding issues.

UK gaming company Sportech, which operates Littlewoods Gaming (of football pools fame), has been recommended as a buy. It has just launched Bet Direct, a fixed-odds betting service available within ITV's interactive menu.

Although Britain's biggest casino group Stanley Leisure should benefit from the allowance of extra slots on deregulation, SP's 'Weekly Fix' gambling review expects this will be mitigated by higher gaming duties. Compounded by volatility in its London venues, SL has been downgraded this year to a sell.