Eve Johnson Houghton: the idea of putting more racing on is ludicrous

Horsemen and punters have expressed a collective exasperation at the prospect of more racing being tied into prize-money agreements being negotiated between the Horsemen’s Group and Arena Racing Company (Arc).

The idea was labelled “ludicrous” by trainers and unbeneficial by jockeys, while the body representing stable staff said the sport was “sleepwalking into oblivion” by putting on more races while not fundamentally addressing the issue of underfunded prize-money.

As part of discussions between Charlie Parker, chairman of the Horsemen’s Group, which represents trainers, jockeys, owners, stable staff and breeders in British racing, and Arc, it is believed that increased prize-money levels would be put on by the racecourse group in exchange for a significant number of additional races.