Race on Southwell's Easter Sunday card abandoned due to lack of runners with trainers critical of prize-money

A £10,000 race at Southwell on Easter Sunday has been abandoned after failing to attract the minimum three declarations amid criticism from trainers of the prize-money offered by the track.

Seven horses were entered for the 0-80 three-year-old handicap but only Kate O’Reilly and Return With Gold remained in the race at the cut-off point on Friday morning.

John Holliday, Southwell clerk of the course, said: “The race has been abandoned as there were not enough runners. Under the BHA rules, if there are not three or more horses declared then a race can be voided. There's a division of a later race, a handicap over a mile and three furlongs, so it's still a seven-race card and the times stay the same."

Last week, Jim Boyle was critical of prize-money being offered by Arena Racing Company (Arc) tracks, said trainers and owners "should be voting with their feet" and described Sunday's racing programme as "embarrassing". 

Posting on X, he added: "It’s simple, if you can’t put up decent prize-money on any Sunday, let alone on Easter Sunday, then you shouldn’t be allowed to stage a meeting. Only Plumpton can hold their heads high with more than £200k prize money available on the day."

Among the trainers not to declare their horses for Sunday's race was Ralph Beckett, who said: "Trainers are all individuals who all have individual businesses to run and will decide to do what's best for their businesses. There were only seven entries for the race and the National Trainers Federation is fundamentally against the small-race abandonment initiative."

Arc and trainers have previously been at loggerheads over prize-money at the group’s racecourses. However, in an interview with the Racing Post last year, Martin Cruddace, Arc’s chief executive, said boycotting races was “completely and utterly illegal" and that any proven collective action against his organisation would result in legal proceedings.

"I think it's very important for people to understand that I and other chief executives of racecourses have a fiduciary duty to our shareholders to protect their businesses and I'll have no hesitation in protecting our business from illegal activity," he said. 

Ralph Beckett: among trainers not to declare for Sunday's raceCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

The cancellation of a race at the Arc-owned Southwell comes on the same day the racecourse group hosts one of its flagship meetings, All-Weather Finals day at Newcastle, and in a week when it has been under scrutiny for allegedly forcing races to deliberately divide.

Arc robustly denied that horses running for Amphitheatre Racing, a subsidiary company owned by Arc, had ever been used to make races split, a process that could potentially earn the group extra media rights payments. On Amphitheatre Racing, a spokesman for Arc said: "None of the trainers associated with these horses has, or ever will be, instructed as to which specific races they should run them in.”

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