'That's not fair' - O'Brien backs Elliott's call to open races to Irish runners

Britain's leading trainer this season, Fergal O'Brien, has backed Gordon Elliott's call for Irish runners to be allowed to compete in low-grade jumps handicaps in Britain. His views come as the chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland has put pressure on the BHA to abolish the current rule preventing overseas runners from competing.

Elliott on Friday labelled the rule an "absolute joke" and cited poor field sizes and bad each-way terms for punters, as well as the increased cost to his owners incurred by not being able to send more horses to race, as reasons for removing a rule first introduced in June 2020 to "assist with controlling transmission of coronavirus".

The Racing Post understands there are currently no plans to revisit the rule for the foreseeable future, and when asked about the ban on Friday, HRI chief executive Suzanne Eade said: "We have continued to make representations to the BHA in relation to this topic. It's in both of our interests to allow [Irish horses] access to those races. I can see correspondence from [HRI director of racing] Jason Morris on this point and I'll continue to follow it up."