British tracks left frustrated by cut in next year's meetings says RCA chief

Racecourse Association chief executive David Armstrong said there had been "frustration and disappointment" from Britain's courses over the decision to reduce the number of fixtures next year by 20 meetings.

Armstrong is leading a new economic analysis project to support decision-making on future fixtures and said he would have preferred that work had been completed before cuts were made.

The sport's participants have called for a reduction in the fixture list in the face of increasing concern over welfare issues but racecourses have resisted changes, arguing it would hit the sport's finances at a time of falling levy and pressure on media rights income.

With neither side able to agree, last week the BHA announced it would trim the 2020 fixture list to 1,491 meetings.

Armstrong said: "There is a feeling of frustration and disappointment on behalf of the RCA about the outcome.

"We put forward a very logical, fact-based argument which is typical of the two approaches between ourselves and the horsemen. The horsemen's is always more qualitative and ours is more quantitative but that's not surprising and quite natural.

"Our quantitative approach, including a very detailed financial model on the value of each fixture suggested that actually the sport could probably support more fixtures but we put forward a proposal it just stayed flat, to take into account some of those qualitative issues."

Armstrong said their modelling found that with each incremental fixture horsemen benefited more financially than racecourses.

"So we were rather surprised the horsemen wanted to cut fixtures at all because it affects their income," he added.

However, on the 2020 fixture list, he went on: "What we have to do now is accept it and move forward. We are not going to try to reopen that argument."

On issues such as field sizes and welfare, Armstrong said there were other means of tackling them than simply cutting fixtures, which would be tackled by the economic modelling project he is leading.

David Armstrong: 'You won't hear me say we need to reduce fixtures. There are other solutions'

"In all these conversations you won't hear me say we need to reduce fixtures. There are other solutions," he said.

"If we identify a problem through thorough analysis or a trend we might want to address, there are probably half a dozen ways of addressing each and every one of them. The last on the list in my view should be a reduction in fixtures because of the point about the economic value of the fixtures.

"That's why I was frustrated with the BHA fixture process because it has made a fixture cut before we've got stuck into this project."

Armstrong said one of the main points of the project was to establish how many fixtures British racing needed.

He added: "Our point had been there was lots of evidence to say we can cope with 2020; let's do the project and be really smart for the 2021 fixture list. That's what we were hoping the outcome would be.

"We, on the racecourse side of the table, are not underestimating how important these participant welfare issues are; we think they are hugely important. We just think there are other solutions. What we want to do is work smarter."

Work is due to begin this week to identify the 20 meetings which could be taken from the fixture list with the least impact.

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