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Compromise has to be found in battle against small fields

Calum McClurkin’s

WHEN just 14 runners lined up for yesterday’s Great St Wilfrid Handicap, my attention briefly went to my local racecourse of Ayr.

The next big Class Two six-furlong handicap is next month’s Ayr Gold Cup. What is the turnout going to be there? Ripon had to scrap the consolation race to open the card as there wasn’t enough runners. One does wonder what will happen to races such as the Bronze and Silver Cup in the run-up to September’s Gold Cup.

Ayr and Perth have already voiced concerns about the ban on Irish runners in lowly-rated handicaps. Why? Because we desperately need the runners. This column has been a broken record about small field sizes but the situation is becoming critical. More and more races are becoming non-competitive with small numbers. Thank goodness for the Ebor Festival at York this week for a pleasant distraction and the summer jumps fields at Perth and Market Rasen were not too bad, showing what a difference a couple of weeks off for everyone can make. The major problem for British racing is too few horses for too many races. Cutting the calendar is made complex by the different vested interests at play.

Courses don’t want to lose meetings as they’ll lose revenue but trainers point out that the horse pool isn’t big enough to fill the fixture list and the paltry prize money on offer means an increasing quantity of equine talent are being sold to Australia and Hong Kong. The situation is only going to get worse.

The British Horseracing Authority don’t have much say in commercial activity but the drastic decline in the sport means that this issue goes beyond money.

The credibility and quality of racing is on the line, with Arena Racing Company chief Martin Cruddace (pictured) on ITV Racing, admitting: ‘Saying there’s too much racing is like saying I want world peace. Why is there too much racing and where do we want to go to? We have to have a strategy. If we need less racing, then I’m not against that in principle.’

Racecourses have to think about their business but anyone that has watched the sport regularly in the last six months or so can see the decline.

Cruddace’s last point suggests that racecourses might compromise. It’s much needed.

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2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

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