Cheltenham Festival false starts to be reviewed but BHA maintains current procedure prevented 'Charge of the Light Brigade' scenario

Starts at last week's Cheltenham Festival would have ended up being like "the Charge of the Light Brigade" had officials simply dropped the flag and let the field go, acting BHA chief executive Brant Dunshea said on Wednesday.

Dunshea, who has also held the role of BHA chief regulatory officer since 2018, was speaking following criticism of procedures at the festival, which was bedevilled by false starts.

Seven jockeys alone were hit with suspensions after a spate of false starts disrupted the second day of the meeting. Racing professionals such as Carl Llewellyn and Kim Bailey argued asking jockeys to start from too far back from the tape was to blame for the problems.

Dunshea said there was disappointment at how things had played out and that the BHA would continue to review what might have led to the issues. However, he added: "I think it's important to emphasise they do apply a consistent approach to the way they control the starts, and that's something that we have had in operation now involving the standing starts for some years.

"It's a difficult environment for both starters and jockeys. It's championship racing, you've got jockeys who are acutely alert and aware of where they are at the start. You've got starters who are required to hold their nerve and ensure that everyone is getting a fair start, and so you have got a lot of things coming together in a very difficult environment.

"I think it was a combination of things. I think our jockeys do a wonderful job in terms of trying to balance that fine line between competition and complying with the requirements of the procedures and regulations."

Michael O'Leary: castigated Cheltenham for a series of false starts at the festivalCredit: David Fitzgerald

Gigginstown House Stud's Michael O'Leary had last week labelled the starts at Cheltenham "a bloody nonsense", adding that the starter should "lift the tape and let them at it".

However, Dunshea said: "I can assure you of one thing, if our starters were just dropping the flag and letting them go by the end of the week it would have been like the Charge of the Light Brigade to the start and that is what we absolutely cannot have."

The BHA will be looking at how to avoid similar events at Aintree, where all races over the Grand National fences are run from a standing start.

Dunshea said: "Absolutely we're looking at what could we do differently leading up to Aintree to try and mitigate the risk of a similar set of problems and I am still working on that with Shaun [Parker, head of stewarding] and the team. It may involve some further communications and engagement with the jockeys ahead of the meeting.

"We're constantly reviewing this and the procedure that's in place at the moment is one that's come about as a consequence of, frankly, years of discussion and conversations and engagement with the Professional Jockeys Association and the stakeholders.

"At the moment that is the procedure but we are constantly looking at how we can improve it."

Brant Dunshea: "It's a difficult environment for both starters and jockeys"

A number of changes were made to the race programme at this year's festival and BHA director of racing Richard Wayman said he imagined the team at the Jockey Club would have been pleased with the way they had worked out.

However, he added: "From our perspective, the issue we would probably be the most concerned with at this stage would be the supply of high-quality British horses, particularly in those novice and juvenile hurdles.

"This year when you look at those four Grade 1s I think fewer than 30 per cent of the runners in those races were British-trained. That whole supply chain issue is clearly not something that can be fixed easily but it's something that we think as a sport we have to address.

"We have a programme of work that we are looking at at the moment that will look to try and tackle that particular issue so we can support owners, breeders and trainers in Britain in terms of that supply of quality young jumps horses coming into training and ending up at Cheltenham, and indeed the other big jumps meetings."

There have been calls for the conditions of the Mares' Hurdle at the festival to be changed to avoid situations such as Lossiemouth running in the race instead of the Champion Hurdle on the same card. Wayman said the situation had to be looked at in the broader context of the enhanced mares' programme in recent years which had made owning a jumps mare more attractive.

He said the mares' races at the festival were an important part of that strategy which the BHA did not want to see impacted, but conceded that changes to the conditions of races like the Mares' Hurdle could be considered.

Wayman added: "We are really supportive of the mares' races, it's really important that they remain at Cheltenham, but potentially there are some tweaks to the race conditions that may again help to boost competitiveness."

Read these next:

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'Anyone who knows anything about horses knows it isn't going to work' - procedures slammed after Cheltenham false starts 

'It's an embarrassment, there is no consistency' - Peter Scudamore slams spate of false starts at Cheltenham 

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