'I've never seen it this busy' - big Bath crowd as £200,000 in prize-money attracts huge fields
You might have been forgiven for believing last week's news of 408 entries being made for a seven-race card at Bath was some sort of April Fools' joke.
But a quick glance at the £200,000 in prize-money on offer explains why more than 75 different yards from all over Britain were represented at Bath on Good Friday.
If you build it, they will come, and the decision to invest heavily in the fixture was not missed by trainers more familiar with bemoaning than praising prize-money. Track record purses resulted in an unprecedented number of runners following 369 declarations for the Class 5 and 6 handicaps, with 265 horses unable to run.
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