EVE JOHNSON HOUGHTON, GROUP 1-WINNING TRAINER
I think that there was a general feeling of disappointment among trainers when the fixture list was published, when we saw that 2025 would essentially be just more of the same.
We need to be more radical and for that to happen we need to be more collaborative. Racing’s various vested interests all say they are going to be more collaborative, but when it comes down to it it’s unfortunately a case of ‘every man for himself’. Whether it’s the racecourses, bookmakers or others – and I’m afraid that includes trainers – everyone is looking at the issue from their own point of view rather than thinking about the sport as a whole. Nobody is prepared to make a sacrifice. What’s the point of all the talking when nothing gets done?
We’ve got to cut the fixture list back as there’s just too much racing – far too many bad races, too many small fields, and we need to cut them out. If you look in the calendar through the summer months, there are loads of 0-55s and 0-60s, but we shouldn’t be having them at this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got my share of horses who race in the lower grades, and as a trainer I might welcome opportunities that come along in small fields, but it’s not healthy.
We need to be more aspirational: everyone has to try harder.
Dr Jim Walker, Group 1-winning owner and ROA Board member
The comment in the BHA’s 2025 fixture list announcement that said it all was: ‘There were no plans to fundamentally alter anything for 2025, given how short a period this has been in terms of accurately assessing the performance of the changes.’
It makes me wonder why it even bothered with a press release. To plan properly for the 2026 fixture list, the BHA will have to cut off the data assessment period at the end of this year, giving it only 12 months of information to assess the Premierisation experiment and plan for the future. Will that be enough time, when the leadership of the organisation is in turmoil and unlikely to be settled before late autumn? I doubt it.
My biggest fear is that in summer 2025, the BHA will announce that it needs another committee to be set up to explore the way forward given the information that is available and, just maybe, something meaningful will happen by the time the 2027 fixture list is due.
Even when that information is available it will tell the regulator exactly what we all know already – Premierisation isn’t working, the fixture list is too big, prize-money is woeful, and good horses continue to be sold abroad.
The message that should have been sent loud and clear with this announcement is that unless every race meeting aims for Premier level prize-money, their future fixtures will be cut by at least 10% every year. Relying on owners to provide the raw material for everyone’s enjoyment, every day, on a ‘hobby’ basis – i.e. assuming that we will just keep paying up no matter what -– is an antiquated concept and the road to disaster for British racing.
John Sanderson, Chief Executive of International Racecourse Management Ltd
From our perspective, the BHA process went more smoothly than in recent years, which is probably reflected in the fact that next year’s fixtures have been published rather earlier this time round.
We all signed up to a 24-month experimental period to enable the BHA to test its philosophy of Premier racing, of which only seven months have been completed, so I cannot see any logic in complaining that significant changes should have been made in 2025.
I was always slightly sceptical about the fact that the compilation of the 2026 fixture list will have to commence early in the second quarter of 2025 when the BHA will not have 24 months’ worth of data available, but that is the nature of the system under which we all operate. At least by then we will have 15 months of factual data available which, depending on its durability, may be sufficient to enable some serious decisions to be made if required.
On the question of the total number of annual fixtures and the imposition of any limitation on that and/or the number of races to be advertised for each fixture, my view is that this should be driven by a detailed and open review of the number of horses in training, both Flat and jumps, together with a forecast of the number of foals being bred, before any changes are made.
I can recall a time when, apart from Cartmel and Epsom, all racecourses were required to give up one fixture, which was reinstated when the overall statistics relating to the available horse population and the central funding of the fixture list by the Levy Board was able to return to ‘normal’. That was, however, before the advent of all-weather racing, which has been allowed to proliferate to the detriment of competitive turf racing, particularly over hurdles.
Whether a draconian step of this nature will be necessary in 2026 or 2027 remains to be seen, but as far as the 2025 fixture list is concerned, it is largely what I expected it to be given that British racing is only just over a quarter of the way through the agreed experimental period.
William Woodhams, Chief Executive Officer of bookmaker Fitzdares
A short-term view in both profitability and funding racing via bookmaking is to have a lot of racing all of the time. It is a more attractive product to higher-staking punters than greyhounds and low-level tennis. So there seems some logic in keeping a steady flow of racing most of the time.
It is also true to a certain extent that your core gambling audience will bet the same on every meeting. However, your fair-weather punters’ ears do prick up considerably more for the bigger meetings, so what we need is a regular supply of high-quality and competitive racing and incentives to encourage a more even spread of quality racing throughout the week.
However, I’m interested in the future of racing and really, we’ve had the conversation already around quality over quantity. I’m disappointed no-one really wants to tackle this head on.
We also seem to lack the ability to force good horses to race against each other; we need more battles in racing, especially over jumps, and I’m looking to the BHA to create these magical moments weekly, not annually.
I’d also like to see a more dynamic approach to removing small fields and the substitution of races by division or re-opening, plus more extensive use of fixture transfers to plug holes caused by abandonments.
With affordability checks and an ageing audience, now is the perfect time to make dramatic changes rather than tweaks. Less racing, more excitement, more money.
Max McNeill, prominent jumps owner
There’s nothing better than a day at the races, win, lose or draw, but we have to keep it competitive and make sure it’s a spectacle by minimising the number of small fields and odds-on chances.
I’m talking principally about jump racing, because that’s where I’m mostly involved, but I do think we’ve got too much racing. I accept that we need to keep people interested at all levels, but I don’t think we have the horse population to support the number of meetings we put on.
I love having runners at Newton Abbot and Cartmel for example and they are fantastic tracks which have their place, but we have too much jump racing in July and August. We want to keep everyone happy and not put owners off, but if we could consolidate some of those meetings we could have a proper break, which would be good for competition and help to keep the jockeys fresh.
I also feel that at the higher levels it’s far too easy for the good horses to dodge one another. That goes right to the top of the sport at the Cheltenham Festival, where there are too many races competing against one another for the same horses.
The best horses should be obliged to take each other on in the big races – it’s what we all want to see – but with the programme as it is there are too many instances where there is an easier option. It’s not just Cheltenham, either – there are occasions throughout the winter when different racecourses are competing against each other to attract much the same horses.
I appreciate that it’s difficult, because racecourses understandably want to protect their fixtures, but it’s time to be radical. Nobody seems to be looking at the bigger picture.
