'You can be left with nowhere to run' - Kerry Lee calls for more races to be rescheduled

Kerry Lee has called on the BHA to re-evaluate the race rescheduling process, arguing all owners deserve the treatment currently reserved for those who are lucky enough to possess a Grade 1 horse.

After a spate of cancellations, the BHA rescheduled the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle and Clarence House Chase, moved to Kempton and Cheltenham respectively, with most other horses being redirected to races already in the Pattern.

However, Lee pointed out it can be as hard to find a race suitable for a horse rated 100 as it is for a Grade 1 horse such as Paisley Park or Editeur Du Gite, and called on the sport to do more to salvage those lost opportunities.

"I'd like to see some of the meetings lost rescheduled and I think that process could be improved," she said.

On the BHA's policy of rescheduling only a handful of races, she added: "I don't subscribe to that to be honest, you can quite easily be left with nowhere to run.

"It's very difficult, there are so many variables when you're a trainer. You need to get the horse on the right track, on the right type of ground, over the right distance, in the right frame of mind, feeling well. You've so many variables going on that you target races for horses and the replacement option can be nothing like the race you wanted."

Lee used two of her own horses to underline her point: Destined To Shine, who had his first start for 322 days at Wetherby last month, and Town Parks, who will miss his second intended race this weekend.

"Destined To Shine is really lightly raced, predominantly because he needs soft or heavy ground, over two miles and he's rated 126," she said. "There aren't many two-mile 0-130 or 135 chases about, he doesn't go right-handed (he's run well enough that way, but he hangs left), so I've got to find heavy ground on a left-handed track, which isn't five hours away, and when you go looking for that it's quite hard to find.

"When you do find one and it's cancelled you've several weeks before the next chance to run your horse. It's tricky.

"Town Parks is another. He's rated 104. He needs two and a half miles on soft or heavy ground. He was due to run at Ludlow a couple of weeks ago, that was abandoned due to the frost. There's a race coming up for him at Hereford on Sunday but the ground's gone good.

Destined To Shine: opportunities are few and far betweenCredit: GROSSICK RACING

"We've sat tight, we've waited for the similar race, and now we've not got the ground. If they don't reschedule these races there is a cost to racing, in terms of not providing the service to the owners which is running their horse and going racing."

Explaining the BHA's policy of saving races, head of racing and betting Tom Byrne said: “When any fixture is lost, the BHA always reviews the future opportunities that exist in the programme for those horses that were due to run, including based on their class and geographical location. On the whole, the race programme is designed in such a way that a similar suitable opportunity is likely to present itself within a reasonable timeframe for most races.

"Whilst this may not exactly replicate the conditions that the lost race may have presented in terms of ground, track configuration or any other preference a runner may have, it will be the appropriate opportunity that exists. It is important that we do not dilute the programme and affect the competitiveness of future races by adding new races that may clash. 

“Where this may not be the case, we do add additional races as required, as we have already done so on multiple occasions already this year. We also scheduled three additional jumps fixtures at the beginning of this week following the recent cold snap."

Byrne also stressed that it is not only Grade 1 races that are saved, and said: “In terms of high-profile races, whilst the Long Walk Hurdle and the Clarence House Chase have been staged after their original fixtures were lost, we have also re-scheduled the Listed Mares' bumper at Market Rasen because it was appropriate to do so, and therefore it is not simply Grade 1 races that are saved.

“Whilst we cannot deliver outcomes to suit every individual runner, trainers always have the option of directly contacting us or using the race forum to request any races, which we will then consider in light of the overall programme.”

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