Britain's smaller tracks are in a 'race to the bottom' - and we must hope we're not irreparably damaged

Racing in Britain is about to undertake a huge experiment which could change it forever, yet many who will be affected probably still don't realise what is happening.

As chief executive at Thirsk and Catterick, I’ve been receiving a message that has me extremely concerned.

From next year, fixtures will be officially classified as either ‘premier’ or ‘core’ depending upon set criteria, and those behind premierisation make no secret of the fact they are out to establish two-tier racing. Big tracks will stage most premier fixtures and it is proposed that they will receive an injection of £3.8 million from the Levy Board, half of which is coming directly from grassroots, core fixtures, which won’t receive the same funding even for the same class of race because – and they are very clear about this – the architects of premierisation don't want better horses to run at core meetings. They’d prefer horses who might have run in a Thirsk Hunt Cup, for example, to compete more or less exclusively on the bigger courses.