We need more runners in the Betfair Chase - what can we do?

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It was lovely to have a weekend off from worrying about small fields - thanks, Cheltenham - but I feel like we're going to spend all of this week riffing on that subject, because of the entry system that means we're looking at a tiny number of runners for the Betfair Chase. Only six runners were put in the race before it closed a fortnight ago and one of those, Royale Pagaille, has already been ruled out by his owner, so we're looking at five if we're really, really lucky and no one else drops out.

That's a poor show for a race in which first prize is £112,540. Heck, even the fourth is supposed to get £10,600 and that's before we redistribute the £1,320 originally allocated to the seventh-placed horse and the £680 that was being saved for the eighth across the line. Why should tracks and sponsors offer such money if no one turns up for it?

It's a complex subject but my main thought is that an entry system has failed if it delivers a maximum of six runners, three weeks before the race. We should have the ability, and the will, to reset the entry process when we get such a weak turnout.

In my imagined world, the BHA would have announced a fortnight ago: "The Betfair Chase has attracted just six entries. Therefore, we will return the entry money which has been paid and start the process again on the Monday before the race."

Since that hasn't happened, who do we have? Five excellent horses, for sure.

A superstar. Won this handsomely a year ago and followed up in the Gold Cup by 15 lengths. Still only eight. It's our privilege to have him here, considering he runs only three times a year. Has reached the stage where others are not necessarily keen to take him on.

Lovely old grey, three times the winner of this race. Trying to equal Kauto Star's record by adding a fourth. Pulled up a year ago and, although he ran to a high level in his next two starts, hasn't won for a couple of years.

Won the Haldon Gold Cup and the Denman last season, chased home Bravemansgame in the Charlie Hall. Deserves to be here on ratings but hard to see him staying 3m1½f on ground that will be close to soft if all the forecast rain turns up.

Game, tough, talented and popular, a great addition to any race. He had a big day just over a week ago when he ran riot in the Badger Beer. Paul Nicholls has said he will "keep half an eye" on this race, in view of the possibility of a small field. I expect that, if none of the others drop out, then he might.

Third in the Gold Cup, on which form he has 17 lengths to make with A Plus Tard. Runner-up under a big weight in the Paddy Power last year, then won the Many Clouds easily. The most credible rival to the favourite and no bigger than 3-1.

Which, I think, boils down to a second clash between A Plus Tard and Protektorat, with an outside possibility that one of the others might run so far above expectations as to get involved somehow. It's fair enough, though I would really have hoped for at least two or three interesting characters on top of these ones to add a bit of spice and intrigue. At this early stage of the season, when most horses ought to be healthy, it doesn't seem too much to ask.

The Betfair Chase has never been a big-field race. Here's the number of runners we've had each year, starting with the most recent: 7, 5, 4, 5, 6, 6, 5, 9, 8, 5, 6, 7, 7, 6, 7, 6, 7.

So we've had five-runner Betfairs four times and they were all enjoyable races. Another one of those would be no disaster.

But I sense that we're riding our luck. Any withdrawal will make this field look pretty threadbare and will match a record low number of runners for this race, set just three years ago.

If A Plus Tard dropped out, that would rob the race of a lot of star power. If Protektorat withdrew, the competitive element of the race would suffer greatly.

There is still the possibility of horses being added to this field today, if their connections are prepared to stump up £7,200 for a supplementary entry. Owners, I expect, will be able to resist handing over seven grand for the pleasure of being duffed up by A Plus Tard.

But if the race was only now being opened up to entries, at an ordinary entry fee for the five-day stage, perhaps we would do better. Who would you get that we don't already have? Without an exhaustive phone-around of connections, I'd only be guessing.

Our chances would surely be improved, let's say that. There must be people out there with horses who could run respectably in a race like this, who hadn't thought of them as Betfair Chase types when the entries closed but now realise the race is short of numbers this time. It could be just the spur to ambition that some trainer or owner needs.

I'm thinking in particular that we have to make things easier for connections of horses based in Ireland. The proportion of top-class chasers based there has increased since the Betfair Chase was created and of course there's a good programme for those horses on their own shores. If we want to tempt them over here, we need to make things easy for them; we should not be asking them to commit to the Betfair weeks in advance.

Basically, we should dispense with the early-closing system for the Betfair Chase. Can it ever have been a good idea to use it for a race that never once drew a double-figure field? I'm not seeing the appeal myself.

At any rate, this is a race for which the typical field size has declined to a point where the race's appeal is undermined. Work is needed to turn things around and I think a change to the entry system would be a start.

To anyone minded to wave away my concerns, I'd say: just look at the Shloer at Cheltenham on Sunday. With Edwardstone taking on Nube Negra, it's a decent contest, perhaps even a thriller. When Edwardstone misses the race, it's just a 1-10 shot hammering two lesser rivals. We can't afford to be staging such weak stuff every weekend.

Monday's picks

He's only 2-1 but I like the look of Representing Bob (2.30) in the staying handicap chase at Exeter. From the Paddy Power-winning stable of Jamie Snowden, he has form figures of 11122 in handicap chases and is still on a fair mark, judging by his Uttoxeter run last month.

He bumped into one in Tea For Three, who went up 13lb and won again on Saturday. The fourth and fifth, both a long way behind Representing Bob at Uttoxeter, also won next time out, so the form looks much stronger than perhaps would be expected.

Plumpton always used to be a favourite course for Jim Best and it's interesting to see The Trampolinist (2.40) go there for her second handicap outing, now that Jim is back sharing a licence with his wife, Suzi. Two miles on good ground at Warwick in May was too sharp for The Trampolinist but she now gets half a mile further on ground with some cut. The Bests are 2/5 with their recent runners. This one is 100-30 as I type.

Suanni (6.30) is an interesting 9-2 shot at Wolves tonight. The grey has arguably underperformed in three recent spins under a 7lb claimer but went close in a couple of similar races under David Probert in September and is now in a 0-60 for the first time. Darryll Holland has booked Jason Watson, the jockey who has most wins for him, at a 35 per cent rate.

Richard Birch shares his Monday fancies.

Three things to look out for today . . .

1.McFabulous evidently didn't do himself much of a mischief when pulled up in the early stages of his chasing debut at Wincanton nine days ago. Paul Nicholls's classy youngster tries again at Exeter today, when there will hopefully be rather more give in the ground. Naturally, the betting market will be cautious in view of what happened the last time. Camprond's win in a handicap hurdle at Punchestown in the spring is not far off the best of McFabulous's hurdles form, so this should be a good contest between the pair.

2.Sister Saint didn't make it into the recent Paul Nicholls stable tour in the Racing Post, which is perhaps one reason to keep expectations in check as she makes her hurdles debut in a race confined to mares late on the Exeter card. She was a thoroughly disappointing favourite in a Chepstow bumper in March but her seven siblings only managed a single bumper success between them. Obstacles ought to bring out the best in her, as she's a Martaline half-sister to Irish Saint (Grade 1-placed) and Welsh Saint. She's had a wind op.

3. How interesting to see William Buick go to Wolverhampton for three on a Monday night in mid-November. This is just the champion's second day riding since the Breeders' Cup, following a much more valuable Lingfield card on Saturday. Perhaps he just wants to keep himself in fighting shape. Still, it seems fair to conclude that the Charlie Appleby-trained Tabaretta is the reason for his presence, as the gelding tries to follow up his nursery success at the same track last month, achieved under a 5lb claimer.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content