'It shows the calendar needs a rejig' claims bookie as cancelled meetings lead to field sizes rise

Two leading industry professionals have pointed to January's improved field sizes, boosted by 22 abandonments due to frost, as evidence that racing's fixture list requires a cull – with both trainers and bookmakers accepting less can mean more.

Small fields have plagued British racing for 18 months but they started 2023 as they ended 2022, on the rise, with January producing the third highest total for that month since 2011.

An average field size of 8.93 was up versus this time last year, when there was just one abandonment and fields averaged 8.52. As if to emphasise the point, only one all-weather fixture was lost and field sizes this year rose marginally to 8.64 from 8.58. However, over jumps, where 21 meetings were lost, the average field size leapt from 8.47 to 9.29.