Teething problems must be shed quickly - the launch of Premier racing at Cheltenham analysed

Cluttered racing gave way to cluttered thinking on the first Premier raceday in Britain as the foreseeable teething problems of the new initiative surfaced at Cheltenham alongside indicators of what might be to come once its loose threads are gathered into a coherent shape.

The objective behind creating 170 Premier fixtures is to showcase the best of British racing in an accessible way by moving less-important fixtures away from busy afternoons, while incentivising owners to keep horses in Britain, rather than have them trained or sold abroad, through increased prize-money.

However, among the concerning aspects of British racing highlighted at Cheltenham on Monday was the paucity of available horses. Only 47 runners contested the seven races, while Irish-trained horses galloped off with two of the three races in which there were runners from Ireland.