Total British racing fixtures unchanged in 2014

The number of British racing fixtures scheduled for 2014 will remain the same as this year at 1,464.

Musselburgh general manager Bill Farnsworth was delighted that his track will be one of those allowed to race for the first time on Good Friday. Farnsworth had made no secret of wanting to race on the previously blank day and the switch from Easter Saturday has also seen prize money increase by £34,000. He also believes open days, which traditionally take place on Good Friday at Middleham and Lambourn, can still function as before. "I've always thought we should race on Good Friday," he said. "We had a fixture on Easter Saturday and were quite happy with it but when the opportunity arose to possibly move we thought we'd give it a shot. "We were caught at the centre of the storm somewhat and some of it was quite nasty stuff but I'm sure the Middleham Open Day will not be affected. We are quite a long way away. "What brought about the change was our Saturday meeting was the fifth meeting and therefore not supported by the Levy Board and they told us a way around this would be to switch to Good Friday when it would generate more Levy and they would be able to support us. "With that in mind, we put up the whole of the £116,000 available on the Saturday, that will still be there, and with the contribution of the Levy prize money Good Friday will now be £150,000. It will be an attractive day of racing, which is what this was all about. "I think racing on Good Friday and the open days can sit side-by-side. Good Friday is surely a day when the sport can attract new racegoers whereas I believe people who visit open days are likely to have been racing before. "We will give this our very best shot, I can promise that." However, the Professional Jockeys Association expressed its disappointment at the introduction of racing on Good Friday not being countered by the addition of a new blank day into the calendar. PJA chief executive Paul Struthers said: "It's very disappointing that our request for a blank day has been ignored, as has our call to have a jumps-free day following the Grand National. "This is likely to have a significant impact on our annual awards, the Stobart Lesters, and we are now going to have to choose the least-worse position in the racing calendar, though there has to be a serious concern that jockeys will not attend when faced with a long journey to the races the next day and, more importantly, with a racing weight to make. "Our call for a jumps-free day after the Grand National would not have seen fewer jumps fixtures as those due to take place would simply have swapped to other slots, so we are also disappointed that hasn't happened either."