Roger Charlton says BHA should rethink farrier strategy after promising filly misses out on Salisbury run

The BHA should rethink its strategy of having a single farrier at smaller meetings according to top trainer Roger Charlton, who was thwarted in his attempt to run the well-regarded Primeval at Salisbury on Saturday.

The well-bred Juddmonte filly was due to contest the card's 6f novice, for which she would have been a heavy favourite, but lost a shoe at the start and was withdrawn.

Charlton, who trains in partnership with his son Harry, indicated at the declaration stage on Thursday the three-year-old should be withdrawn in the event of losing a front shoe.

The trainer, who saddled Quest For Fame to win the Derby in 1990, said: "I think the rules are that the minor meetings don't need to have two farriers, but it would be great if that could be changed when you think of the amount of money owners put into the business.

"We had only travelled an hour and a half, but it could have been five hours and it would make sense to have another farrier to replate at the start, but I appreciate it's not a necessity as far as the BHA is concerned."

To make matters worse, Charlton said he was struggling to find another suitable race for the Lope De Vega filly, whose dam Passage Of Time was a Group 1 winner for the late Sir Henry Cecil.

Roger Charlton: Salisbury withdrawal "a very frustrating situation"Credit: Edward Whitaker

"It was a very frustrating situation in that it appeared we'd frightened a certain amount of the opposition away and were left with a very short-priced favourite," Charlton said. 

"Conditions would have been perfect for her and the frustrating thing is there are no six-furlong novices until, I think, September for this filly to run in as an alternative. That's assuming six furlongs is her right trip – seven is possibly too far at this stage.

"Our hand was slightly forced in running at Salisbury with the lack of alternatives and there are seemingly too many restricted novices now, some of which don't fill, so the balance needs addressing.

"It is possible the BHA will put on an additional race because of these circumstances, but it was frustrating at Salisbury." 

In response, a BHA spokesman pointed to their rules which outline that a farrier is only required to attend the start of a Pattern or Listed race, or for contests screened on terrestrial television. There was no such provision for the Salisbury race.

On an additional race, they said: “The BHA can confirm that discussions about adding a race of this nature in the coming weeks had already taken place and the intent to do so remains. Delivering the optimal race programme is a fine balance to achieve and so it always remains under review. 

“Whenever we identify gaps such as this for certain parts of the horse population, we will consider adding an extra race if appropriate within the wider programme.”

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