'300 races should be just the start' - how do we tackle a growing crisis?

At a time when so much is going up, two barometers of racing's health are going down.

Fewer people have been heading out for a day at the races, with some of the sport's biggest meetings hit particularly hard. This is not necessarily surprising, given fewer horses have been turning up to entertain paying customers. Our figures are slipping and urgent correction is needed.

One thing so often leads to another. On May 1, 2018, there were 15,993 horses registered in Britain's training yards. Fast forward to the same date this year and the number had slumped by almost six per cent to 15,040. Over the same period, the number of fixtures and actual races staged has remained broadly the same.