NO NATIONAL RESERVES IS BIZARRE CALL

THE scrapping of the reserve system for the Grand National is a peculiar move by Aintree.

Apparently having reserves on the racecard confuses fans and bettors alike as well as hampering the production of raceday data supply. Seriously?

Surely, prioritising the race having a full field of 40 runners matters more than some administrative quirk that, let’s be honest, isn’t hard to figure out.

Is it that difficult for people to monitor a race where one horse is withdrawn the day before and figuring out the next reserve gets in? There are a lot more complexities to race reading than understanding how a basic reserve system works.

It’s been in place since 2000 and proved to be useful. There are four reserves as back-up to the 40 intended runners. Three of those reserves got a run and ensured that an iconic race had a full field. With more unknowns over ground conditions than ever before, the reserve system is a good way to preserve maximum fields.

‘It’s a shame,’ said trainer Michael Scudamore.

It is indeed.