Disappointment all round as valuable Imperial Cup attracts only 13

Officials were unable to hide their disappointment as Saturday's £70,000 Matchbook Imperial Cup at Sandown attracted only 13 declarations.

Ante-post favourite Golden Spear was not declared on Thursday due to the going – described as soft, heavy in places at declaration time – while his Tony Martin-trained stablemate Tudor City was also among those not to stand their ground.

The low turnout comes after last month's Betfair Hurdle, Europe's most valuable handicap hurdle at £155,000, drew a comparatively small field of 16 runners, while the most valuable race last Saturday, the Grimthorpe Chase, attracted just seven.

Imperial Cup fields

• 2013 – 19 (heavy)
• 2014 – 14 (soft)
• 2015 – 23 ran (good to soft)
• 2016 – 14 ran (soft)
• 2017 – 13 declared (soft, heavy in places at decs)

Betfair Hurdle fields

• 2013 – 21 ran (soft)
• 2014 – 20 ran (heavy)
• 2015 – 23 ran (soft)
• 2016 – 22 ran (heavy)
• 2017 – 16 ran (soft)

Sandown's clerk of the course Andrew Cooper, admitted the turnout was disappointing, especially with a £50,000 bonus on offer for any winner who can go on to score at Cheltenham having been reinstated by sponsor Matchbook.

"I'm not entirely surprised that from an entry of 24 we've come down to 13 declarations, but we've seen this in several of the big handicap hurdles this season, the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury being another example," said Cooper.

"At £70,000 it's a valuable pot, so I don't think prize-money is an issue. That said, we have a competitive, interesting field."

'Temporary decline in the division'

BHA spokesman Joe Rendall said: "There are a wide variety of factors which can affect field sizes and it's important not to try to simplify what is a complex issue by looking for a single root cause.

"Nevertheless, it's always disappointing when a race doesn't attract the anticipated field, particularly in the case of the Matchbook Imperial Cup given that the £50,000 Cheltenham bonus has been reinstated by the sponsor.

"The top-rated horse in the race this year is 135, compared to a ten-year average of 143, which may be representative of a temporary decline within the two-mile hurdling division.

"However, it's important to view longstanding races such as this in a wider historic context and some renewals will inevitably be stronger than others."

Sponsor takes long view

Having been unveiled as sponsor for the race last month, Matchbook were keen to seek the positives despite the small field and reaffirmed their commitment to both the race and British racing generally.

On behalf of the firm, Bradley Morrish said: "Of course it would have been great to see a bigger field with more chances for someone to go on and claim the £50,000 bonus next week, but it’s still going to be a great day of racing.

"We brought back the bonus as a way to invest in the long-term growth of British racing. We don't expect things to change overnight."

Drying conditions

The going on the hurdle course was described as soft, heavy in places on Thursday but, with no further rain forecast, Cooper is expecting the heavy patches to dry out considerably.

"It's going to be a slightly dead soft in the absence of any appreciable rain for us, with the course slowly drying," he said. "We had 3mm in the day yesterday but could well stay dry now through Saturday."

SkyBet make Fixe Le Kap, who holds entries in the Coral Cup and Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, their 5-1 favourite, ahead of William H Bonney – entered in the Randox Health County Hurdle – at 6-1.

Matchbook Imperial Cup card