New structure brings new hope - but racing's leaders have an awful lot to fix

British racing faces a long year of hard work, negotiation and necessary change as it seeks to restore a sense of hope about its long-term future. There have been brief moments of euphoria on the long road from the Covid nightmare, notably when crowds were allowed back at the Cheltenham Festival in March, but lately the indicators have been pointing towards trouble.

Attendances through the first ten months of 2022 were down on pre-pandemic levels by 14.7 per cent. Despite the pull of Baaeed making his final appearance, British Champions Day at Ascot drew the smallest crowd in its history, down six per cent on the previous year.

Average field sizes have fallen below 8.5 for the first time, having been 11.6 back in 2001. The entertainment business has never been more competitive, thanks to streaming options and the bottomless internet, yet racing is staging an ever-reducing version of itself, a less engaging and more predictable shadow of what it used to be.