Races with small fields at their highest level for 25 years

Shrinking field sizes are on the rise in Britain with more races with five or fewer runners being contested this year than at any point in the last quarter of a century.

The situation is proving a turn-off for punters, with the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF) declaring that "nobody wants to go racing and see a series of five or six-runner events", while the Racecourse Association (RCA) said a "number of ideas" were being looked at to resolve the matter for the 2022 fixture list.

Analysing BHA data, which includes monitoring field sizes of five or fewer runners as a key metric for the performance of the sport in Britain, shows small-field races are at their highest level since records began in 1995. Comparing data from January 1 to August 15 for each year, it shows 15.68 per cent of races in 2021 (1,027/6,549) have been run with a field size of five or fewer, the highest figure since the 17.02 per cent total (803/4,717) in 1995.