Beckett: needs of the horse must come ahead of bookmakers in fixture list

Ralph Beckett has welcomed the reduction in meetings for 2020 and has urged the sport's decision makers to go even further in future, creating a programme that places the needs of the horse and staff in yards above racecourses and bookmakers.

There will be 1,491 meetings in 2020 – 20 fewer than 2019 – and Beckett, who was a leading figure in the revolt by trainers and owners against Arena Racing Company's cuts to prize-money earlier in the year, was forthright in his views on the fixture list.

Beckett, who is on the National Trainers Federation council, said: "It's clear to everyone surely that the current horse population cannot sustain the fixture list.

"We're pleased that the BHA reduced the size of the fixture list but we'd like it to be more than it is. The good news is that there is a recognition from everybody, apart from the racecourses, that there is too much racing."

The multiple Classic-winning trainer feels the latest fixture list is a step in the right direction, and further discussions need to happen before the 2021 list is devised.

He added: "We've had a fixture list imposed on us that has reached saturation point. The whole thing has got out of hand. In my view, there needs to be a proper consultation on this over the next 12 months before the 2021 list and we need to get back to a position where the welfare of the horse and the welfare of the industry is put first, not the welfare of the bookmakers and the racecourses.

"Nearly 40 per cent of races have fewer than eight runners. That figure alone is impossible to argue with. The number of odds-on favourites has risen which ties in with the number of small-field races."

He added: "We've been told for years that more fixtures will mean higher gross profits and therefore feed through to prize-money.

"The latest figures say that isn't happening. We need to get back to a fixture list that drives interest, because that is what will drive turnover."

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