'It needs to change now' - more pressure for fixture reduction from top trainers

Leading trainers have escalated demands for urgent action to save British racing from decline, with William Haggas calling for 300 fixtures - more than a fifth of the programme - to be cut.

Haggas, who trains the world's highest-rated racehorse Baaeed, said field sizes were falling because there were too many fixtures for the pool of horses and pressure should be put on racecourses to act.

Fellow trainer Charlie Fellowes said change was needed "as quickly as possible", while Mark Johnston, Britain's winningmost trainer, said he "wouldn't be against" the immediate cutting of fixtures.

Johnston underlined his commitment to plans outlined for the future of the sport by former BHB chairman Peter Savill, including a reduction of races for horses rated 80-100, more emphasis on marquee fixtures, and the handing of greater power to the BHA.

A plan to remove 300 races from next year's fixture list fell through after opposition from some racecourses, but Haggas thinks more drastic pruning is needed. Losing 300 fixtures would equate to more than a fifth of race meetings in Britain. Some 1,437 were held last year and seven more in 2019.

Haggas said: "We as a body – the National Trainers Federation – were very much in favour of cancelling 300 races, and I would cancel 300 fixtures and make the pool of races smaller.

"If the same amount of money is available, then that [prize-money] would go up. We have an issue at the moment with too much racing, there's no doubt, and it's only the trainers who are saying this and the trainers are the ones who benefit from too much racing."

Racecourse representatives and bookmakers have previously warned that a significant reduction in fixtures would likely lead to a corresponding reduction in media rights and levy income for the sport, meaning there would be no guarantee prize-money would increase for the fixtures which remained.

Haggas, speaking to Sky Sports Racing, added: "I feel very sorry for the BHA. They come under the cosh and get blamed for everything. The long and short of it is they don't have the funding that the racecourses have.

"They get the media rights money direct to them, to do with as they please. It's up to the rest of the industry to put pressure on them as much as possible."

Responding to accusations of a lack of urgency in dealing with problems such as uncompetitive prize-money, low-field sizes and the drain of equine talent abroad, leading industry officials Joe Saumarez Smith, Charlie Parker and Wilf Walsh, the respective chairs of the BHA, Thoroughbred Group and Racecourse Association, wrote a letter to the Racing Postspelling out proposals to "deliver tangible change in important areas".

That change is wrapped up in an industry strategy review whose recommendations would be unlikely to be implemented before 2024. Yet, Fellowes argues, action is required urgently.

He said: "It's very clear something has got to change and it needs to change now, as quickly as possible. Our sport is in a decline in this country, we're getting further and further behind the superpowers like Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and America, and it's damaging our sport irreparably.

"Everyone knows the industry is at a point where something needs to happen, and I find it remarkable nothing has happened so far.

"It's very clear that the way the sport is structured and governed is not helping. You've got bookmakers, racecourses and horsemen all pulling in different directions, all wanting different things and not working together. How are we meant to get anything done when we have three sections of the sport that can't agree?

Charlie Fellowes: 'How are we meant to get anything done when we have three sections of the sport that can't agree?'Credit: Edward Whitaker

"There's no incentive for the racecourses to cut down fixtures, they want as many races as possible as they get paid per race on media rights – the more the better for them."

Johnston, speaking at Haydock on Sunday, said: "I've been saying for years there's not just too much racing, there's too much good racing. I was in favour of the idea of cutting 300 races and I wouldn't be against the immediate cutting of fixtures.

"That said, Savill's plan doesn't involve the cutting of any races or fixtures, it just involves a redistribution of the number of races.

"We've got large enough field sizes for horses rated in the 55s and 65s, so all he has suggested is you put on more of those races and greatly reduce the 80-upwards, and greatly increase the prize-money they're running for. We've got to reduce races, at least at the top end, for the good of British racing."

RCA chairman Walsh stressed that the fixture list would not be changed for 2023, but that he was open to conversation regarding the future race programme. He also said evidence would be required to prove that a reduction of fixtures would benefit the sport.

Wilf Walsh: RCA chairman is open to a conversation regarding the race programme

He said: "In the short term, the fixture list will be out for 2023 and that's done. What remains to be changed is the race programme in 2023, we can sit and discuss that.

"There's work we can do, if it's 300 fixtures, I want to see the number and the science behind that to ensure we're not creating financial Armageddon."

He added on Sky Sports Racing: "Going into 2024 we can perhaps take a more strategic look at what we do in terms of prize-money, field sizes and shifting the balance of the race programme between classes of horses."

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