THE EXPLOITS of Irish horses and Irish jockey Ruby Walsh at the Cheltenham Festival hit profits at Ladbrokes in the first four months of the year.

Ladbrokes, which operates bookie shops as well as online and phone businesses in Ireland and Britain, said yesterday that group profit for the four months to April 30th was down 34 per cent.

In a statement yesterday, the company said March and particularly the Cheltenham national hunt racing festival, proved “highly profitable” for many of its customers.

Cheltenham is one of the year’s biggest betting events, and many punters profited this year by following Walsh, who rode seven winners, many of them favourites, with subsequent losses for bookmakers.

The company also blamed increased free bets and costs from its e-gaming business relating to last year. In Ireland, the success of Irish horses at Cheltenham and weak economic conditions left overall winnings down 21 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

However, contributions from the Eastwood and McCartan chains, which the company bought last year, meant overall winnings were up 2 per cent on the same period in 2008.

In Britain, total winning declined by 4 per cent. Ladbrokes won 7 per cent less from punters in its betting shops, but this was partly because it had closed some outlets. On a like-for-like basis, the decline was 5 per cent.

Ladbrokes said profits from high rollers were £25 million (€39 million), down from £40 million during the same period last year. The company said it had made a further £17 million from high-staking customers since May 1st.

On May 14th, net debt stood at £900 million, down from £87 million in December.