'Chester bears the brunt' - worried track buys fixtures to fight the effects of premierisation

With the 2024 fixture list due to be published next week, Chester has revealed it has bought two meetings from other courses in an attempt to help offset the expected effects of premierisation.

It believes it "bears the brunt" of significant changes to the schedule for next year, brought in as part of British racing's industry strategy and aimed at creating a "shop window" to enable better marketing of the biggest meetings and to promote betting turnover.

Chester fears the effect on its finances of having just two 'premier' fixtures and one 'core' meeting between 2pm and 4pm on most Saturdays, a day when it often attracts big crowds for fixtures which do not offer as much prize-money as the afternoon's main cards.