'The warning lights are flashing' - but what's behind the field sizes crisis?

Low field sizes have set alarm bells ringing for British racing.

A worrying trend of uncompetitive contests and pressures on the fixture list have widened divisions between the two major racecourse groups and left the sport fighting ever harder to maintain its position as a world leader.

According to BHA data, the average field size across both codes between January 1 to May 31 was 8.23, the lowest for that period since records began in 1995, while the proportion of races with fewer than six runners stood at a record 20.55 per cent, compared to 15.25 per cent last year.