2023 racing fixture list feature almost no change in volume despite widespread criticism over congested calendar; BHA proposal to remove 300 races was rejected earlier this year; Paul Nicholls wants end to summer jumps in June and July
Monday 29 August 2022 16:27, UK
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls is urging racing to look to the Premier League for inspiration as he calls for a complete end to summer jumping during the months of June and July.
Racing's fixture list has come under scrutiny again in recent days following the release of the 2023 calendar, which sees minimal changes to the volume of meetings despite significant criticism from a number of key figures in the sport, including top trainers and jockeys.
Following concerns over struggling field sizes and levels of prize money, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) produced a proposal to remove 300 races from the calendar but that was turned down earlier this year.
A total of 1,478 meetings are currently planned for 2023, with the BHA's chief operating officer Richard Wayman emphasising ongoing work to review the situation.
Summer jumps racing in particular has been accused of lacking competitiveness, with Nicholls in favour of a two-month break and an increased focus on the elite level.
"Some of the races I've won this summer with the likes of Hell Red have been two-runner races," Nicholls told Sky Sports Racing. "That's just not good for the sport and no one is going to want to go and watch that.
"It's controversial but I think we should go back to how it used to be and have no [jumps] racing at all in the summer.
"Finish the season at Sandown, race through May and then have June and July off, building up slowly through August to the new season. That would do everyone involved in National Hunt racing a lot of good.
"We'd know where we start and where we stop and we wouldn't have all this ludicrous, mediocre racing during the summer. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the rest of the year.
"The great thing about the Premier League in football is everyone is striving to get to the top. That's how it should be in racing.
"We [trainers] don't have any power but then I don't know who does? Someone needs to be strong enough to stand up and make these things happen."
Fergal O'Brien has enjoyed another successful summer and leads the way in this season's trainers' championship and does not want to see a break brought into effect, instead arguing for a 'happy medium' with fewer meetings.
"When Paul Nicholls speaks he needs to be respected but the stats show the horses are there, they are just spread too thin," O'Brien told Sky Sports Racing. "There needs to be a happy medium.
"We feel three meetings a week would get more competitive fields.
"As a business I certainly don't want to close my yard down for two months. If that what Paul, or any trainer, wants to do then that's up to them. No one is saying you have to have runners."
Wayman has likened the fixture list debate to the divisions that emerged during the Brexit vote, adding that the BHA have tried to 'strike a balance'.
He remains confident the BHA will be able to bring the various parties together for an "agreed industry plan", but accepts that will involve some "compromises".
"It's one of those discussions which is almost Brexit-like," Wayman said. "There are two camps.
"On one hand you've got the group who point to the competitiveness and say: 'It's not good enough at the moment' and we know field sizes have not been where we want them.
"The other side of the argument is a much more commercial and financial one. So many of the sport's revenue streams are linked to the volume of races that we stage. That's the money that flows through to prize money.
"There is a balance that we're always trying to strike between a competitive racing programme and not taking steps that will reduce the volume to such an extent that prize money begins to fall significantly.
"One really important point is the absence of an agreed industry plan for where we want our sport to be in three to five years' time.
"It may be that the sport isn't able to come together as it hasn't over the past decade but that would deeply sadden me. I'm more optimistic that on the occasion there is a much greater chance of it happening.
"As an industry we're facing an incredibly challenging time and increasingly people within the sport are realising that carrying on as we are cannot be the best option.
"That will take compromise. Any plan the sport agrees, there will be bits of it that certain parties don't like but having a plan is something that will put the sport in a much better place than having everyone paddling their own boat."
Setting out his own personal vision for the sport, Wayman outlined three aims: "One of the things I'd expect to see in a vibrant, successful British racing industry is a competitive product. Any sport is dependent on that.
"A second area would be around the way the fixture list is actually structured. At the moment we've got around 1500 fixtures and they are all presented as a mass.
"Should we, perhaps as other sports have done, help our customers understand what is the really top stuff and what is the other stuff?
"A third thing is looking for a programme that encouraged our better horses to race against each other more often than they do. At the moment it can be too easy for our best horses to avoid each other."
