Aspirational sport built on thriving grassroots

The viewing figures for this year’s Randox Grand National totalled 7.5 million, almost double that of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, the jewel in the crown for entertainment at ITV – and what a race it turned out to be, with Sam Waley-Cohen becoming the first amateur for decades to ride the winner on what was his last ever race under Rules.

The Grand National served as a reminder that despite industry headwinds and external scrutiny, the sport continues to attract widespread appeal, and rightly so – this is what makes horseracing so captivating. What an amazing finale to the National Hunt campaign, followed now by the Flat season and a new generation of Classic stars. Factor in the excitement of first-season sires having their first winners and the breeze-up sale season in full swing, it’s a great time of the year.

With such positive energy, how do we turn this into a force for good and ensure that the sport has an economically prosperous and exciting future? As an industry, we must work together to devise a commercially viable product for the long term. Simply put, in order to be commercially viable, we need to deliver a race programme that is economically sustainable and aligns with the changes to the demographic of the horse population.

There is a genuine need for a strategy to both reflect the needs of the existing horse population and ownership base, as well as sustaining the international standing of British racing. It is essential that the industry comes together to find a solution to falling

field sizes. The worrying trend of seeing a handful of starters in a Pattern/Graded race is something that is in danger of becoming the rule and not the exception.

Taking a closer look at data relating to falling field sizes, and analysing comparative figures in France and Ireland, the easy decision would be to indiscriminately cull the number of races

– job done. However, the adage that “the easy decision is the wrong decision” has never been more apt. If we look at the horse population and racecards, this is where the disconnect lies. If we are not careful we are going to find ourselves fast approaching a situation of trying to marry square pegs with round holes.

Making decisions based on incomplete or inconsistent data further adds to the risks. War in Europe, Brexit, the cost of living crisis, lack of rain and suitable ground, and increasing opportunities in other jurisdictions all have to be considered as factors contributing to current trends.

Owners obviously want to see their horses run as well as they can and hopefully end up in the winner’s enclosure – the dichotomy here is increasing competition and reducing opportunities in some instances will lessen the chances. However, we have a duty to the future of the sport, whose spectators and fans need and demand the best racing to sustain their interest and financial involvement, to devise a strategy that takes us forward while at the same time not leaving holes in the race programme.

One issue frequently cited is that there are too many opportunities for the best jump horses. Should this simply be addressed by having a more focused race programme, with fewer opportunities offering greater rewards to increase the competition at the top end of the sport? However, by simply culling races, this would leave a huge gap in revenue for all participants. Therefore, to counterbalance this, we need to optimise the number of races serving the spectrum of horses in training. The industry needs to recognise the natural distribution of equine demographics and develop a commensurate race programme.

At the base of the pyramid is where we find the majority of the horse population, with thousands of owners who are investing

in the sport. Moreover, we must recognise this is the commercial engine of racing for levy, media rights and therefore prize-money. By focusing on the elite end and scrapping the race programme serving the majority, we are going to cause irreparable damage to the long-term viability of the sport. The population of horses rated below 70 has increased from around 45% in 2017 to over 52% in 2022*. In turn, the number of horses rated 80 and over has dropped during the same period from 31% to 27%.

Yet what we cannot eliminate is ambition. The ultimate goal for participants in any sport is to reach the top. This is reserved for the highest calibre, elite athletes and this must remain as the aspiration, which should not be compromised.

*Three-year-olds and older, does not include two-year-olds