Ruby Walsh: it's time to stop the fiasco of races going off on top of each other

Ruby Walsh has urged racecourses in Ireland and Britain to start working together for the good of the industry and stop the fiasco of races going off on top of each other, a problem he believes is spoiling the experience for everyone.

Since the legendary jockey retired from the saddle in early May, Walsh has been a pundit on Racing TV and RTE, and he thinks the policy of races having to go off at five-minute intervals is dated and needs to be changed.

"Racecourses have to realise they're all part of the same product. They need to start working together for the good of that bigger product. We're stuck on the old clock with races going off at five past, ten past or quarter past. That has to go. What difference does it make if a race goes off at a different time? It doesn't bother us when a Breeders' Cup race goes off at 11.01pm, does it?" Walsh said.

He added: "Ireland and Britain rely on each other for competition and it's about time the racecourses on both sides of the Irish Sea started working together too. The National Stakes at the Curragh needed Pinatubo and, equally, the Dewhust needed Arizona to make it a race.

"The big race at Doncaster on Saturday wouldn't be much of a race without Aidan O'Brien, would it? The crossover is huge. One relies on the other so why can racecourses not accommodate each other? I actually don't think it would be as difficult to organise as people might think."

Ruby Walsh: 'The big race at Doncaster on Saturday wouldn't be much of a race without Aidan O'Brien, would it?'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Walsh also suggested that 35-minute gaps between races is too long for racegoers and should be cut to 32 minutes.

"There are 35-minute gaps between races on plenty of racedays and that is too long for racegoers. It's okay at Cheltenham or Royal Ascot, but not on lesser days. Why not push that back to 32 minutes? That's a difference of 21 minutes in a day for a racegoer. We need to look after our racegoers," he said.

The viewing experience of the eagerly awaited Middle Park (due off at 3pm) at Newmarket last month was diminished on Racing TV by a 2m6f handicap hurdle (due off at 2.55pm) at Navan going off together, while Naas chairman Dermot Cantillon said Irish racing was being treated like second-class citizens after the channel had no presenters on track last Sunday.

Walsh initially brought up his grievances in his weekly Irish Examiner column on Saturday and he is convinced eight-minute intervals is the way forward.

Walsh said: "I was at Punchestown on Wednesday, when there were four meetings on, and the races were being run on top of each other. All I could think was that this was no good for anybody.

"If you have the four meetings across Ireland and the UK eight minutes apart, so anyone could watch all the racing, it gives the viewer a preview and review of every race and, if you want to watch every race, you have somewhat of a breather between them.

Ruby Walsh with his father Ted and Robert Hall (left) on RTECredit: Patrick McCann

"On Wednesday, why couldn’t they have started Bath at 1.32pm, Nottingham at 1.40pm, Wetherby at 1.48pm, and Punchestown 1.56pm, completing the cycle in eight-minute intervals?"

Walsh acknowledges that there might be no way of preventing races going off in tandem on busy afternoons like St Stephen's Day (Boxing Day), but believes racing fans should have the opportunity to enjoy every part of the sport, not just bits and pieces of it.

"Racing can start at any time. It’s about making one big product which people can enjoy rather than numerous individual products in one industry competing against each other.

"I understand that it’s not possible on St Stephen’s Day, when the number of meetings goes into double figures, or on any of those bank holidays or festival times when there is a lot of racing on. They are going to happen every now and then, but there’s no reason why, for the remainder of the calendar, that people can’t watch and enjoy all of it, not just little bits of it."

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