The promotion of the Everest racing event on the sails of the Opera House is being unreasonably criticised. Commercialisation of publicly owned iconic locations is considered tasteless by protesters. In supporting the arts, governments subsidise these institutions with tax dollars from companies like those promoting racing. If being associated with the gambling industry is causing these critics heartburn, could I remind them of the Opera House lottery, which funded its construction. A commercial solution is to charge a sufficiently high fee to discourage too many ads, but in doing so, to reduce their government handouts. Alan Sexton, Parramatta. 9Oct2018.