Racegoers aren't being treated with the respect they deserve - so here's my five-point plan to improve their experience

Are we treating racegoers with the respect they deserve? I'm not so sure we are anymore and, with that in mind, here is my five-point plan to try to improve the raceday experience for those who actually bother to go to the races.

1 Scrap 35-minute gaps

The word 'boring' is bandied about far too often for my liking when it comes to people describing a day at the races. And, in fairness, how can you argue with that when you look at the example I am about to present to you.

There was an eight-race card at Navan on the first Saturday in September. The first event was off at 1.40pm and the final race was at 5.40pm. There were 35-minute gaps between the first seven races. The first four races were over 5½f, 5½f, 5f and 5f. The longest any of those contests lasted was for one minute and 14 seconds.