Why worrying about sectionals over jumps is a bit of a waste of time

Like many, I was staggered when I saw Tramore's somewhat dismissive reaction last week to the race-distance controversy sparked by Al Boum Photo's win there on New Year's Day. Then I watched a replay of Might Bite's win in the 2017 RSA Chase someone had posted on social media after his retirement and it made me rethink.

Rail movement meant the distance of the New Year's Day Chase was always going to be longer than advertised, but the course failed to advertise the change, compounded its omission by pushing the start back slightly randomly and made things even worse by saying distances are never meant to be exact anyway.

It doesn't look good, and the backlash was completely understandable, but I have some sympathy for Tramore. The rail movement was the right thing to do – to give the horses fresh ground – and, at a time when racecourses are fighting battles on so many fronts just to keep going, it's forgivable if total accuracy on race distances is not their number one priority.