Julie Harrington is to step down from her role as chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority after four years in the role.
To facilitate a smooth changeover, Harrington has agreed to stay in the position until the end of the year, although she said she had made the decision to leave her post “some time ago”.
The BHA is already looking for a replacement for outgoing chair, Joe Saumarez Smith, who will step down in May 2025.
Harrington said: “With so much now in place to develop and grow the Industry Strategy, which will secure a brighter future for British horseracing, it felt like the right time to move on and let someone else steer the sport through its next exciting phase.
“It has been a huge privilege to lead the BHA during what has been a period of real change as the sport has developed and implemented shared strategies for a sustainable future, and an ability to speak with one united voice.
“I love working in horseracing, it is an amazing sport to be involved in. I will always be a fan and you can expect to see me at the races in the years ahead. I am proud of the progress the industry has made over the past three years, especially in improving the governance structure, and I hope that racing’s stakeholders will continue to work together cooperatively to attract new audiences, further improve the customer experience and grow the sport.
“I am confident that if the sport continues to foster the sense of unity and shared purpose that we have developed over the past few years then great things can be achieved.
“My future plans are likely to include a move to a varied non-executive career. Although I took the decision to stand down some time ago, I have agreed to stay on until the end of year to allow a smooth transition to a new CEO.
“The BHA board is already engaged in the search for Joe’s successor as chair and informing the board of my intentions now gives the nominations committee the opportunity to plan an orderly handover, consider the complementary skills of candidates and allow the new Chair to be part of the final stages of CEO recruitment.
“British Horseracing is one of the cornerstones of our sporting and cultural heritage. I will be forever thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of it, both during my tenures at Northern Racing, on the BHA board and most recently as CEO of the BHA. I wish it every success in the years to come.”
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British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington has expressed her delight at the positive response to this week’s new HorsePWR campaign relating to welfare in racing.
Encouraging feedback has flooded in from various sectors of the sport, with trainers, jockeys, breeders, owners and media representatives welcoming the initiative.
HorsePWR has its own dedicated website to provide information about the sport and the thoroughbred, the lives they lead and the high welfare and safety standards within racing.
In a statement on www.horsepwr.co.uk, Harrington said: “The response to our HorsePWR campaign is unprecedented for racing. For the industry to rally behind this cause with such full-throated support is immensely heartening.
“We deliberately took a bold and innovative approach to tackling welfare concerns fully aware that it carried a risk of a negative response in some quarters.
“But the way the sport has readily embraced this new concept shows just how much everyone in it recognises that perceptions around welfare are a critical issue for our future.
“It also shows that we recognise the need to be open, transparent and to tackle welfare concerns head-on.
“We should have confidence in what we do and understand that it is through education and information that we will build trust in the sport.
“We are extremely grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have supported the campaign.
“This is just the start and it is important to recognise that the impact campaigns have should never be judged on one day alone.
“We want to grow the campaign and use it to reach wider audiences. We also call on the sport to continue to promote and support the campaign as much as possible. It is in everyone’s best interest to do so.”
The website explores the areas that racing has committed to improve, such as the lives horses go on to have after racing, reducing risk on and off course and facts surrounding the whip.
The British Horseracing Authority is urging MPs to take part in the debate over affordability checks, which will take place in Westminster Hall on Monday.
It is the first chance for MPs to properly interrogate proposals of the implementation of the supposedly “frictionless” checks after 100,000 people signed an e-petition to trigger the debate.
The BHA is warning as many as 1,000 stable staff could lose their jobs if the new scheme comes in.
A statement from the BHA read: “As the petition has demonstrated, there is widespread opposition to affordability checks among the public, who feel that they should be able to participate in a legitimate leisure activity without the potentially disproportionate interventions represented by one-size-fits-all state-mandated affordability limits.
“There has been little opportunity for MPs to scrutinise such significant changes to gambling regulations which, if introduced, could cost the sport of horseracing up to £50million per annum. It is therefore vital that as many MPs as possible attend the debate so that this important issue is subject to the appropriate level of parliamentary scrutiny.”
BHA chief executive Julie Harrington said: “The latest data, which highlights the terrible scale of job losses that could result from these checks on betting as currently proposed, showcases yet again the importance of this issue and the need for government to get it right.
“We look forward to the issue of affordability checks being properly debated by MPs. The BHA has worked tirelessly with stakeholders from across the sport to ensure as many parliamentarians as possible have been contacted in advance of the debate and urged to take part.
“We also thank racing supporters who have sent letters to their MP through the RMG, ATR or Racing Post websites.
“This outreach has further raised awareness around the potential unintended consequences to racing of these measures and we are hopeful that this will translate into a strong turnout for the debate.
“While we want to manage expectations on whether the debate can deliver an immediate change in Government policy, we continue to call for a rethink on the proposals to strike a better balance between protecting vulnerable customers and allowing those who gamble safely and responsibly to do so unimpacted.”
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A debate will be held to discuss the implementation of affordability checks on February 26, the Petitions Committee has announced.
Participants and fans of racing signed a petition, which needed 100,000 signatures to reach this stage, after it was launched under the name of Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale.
British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington said in a statement: “We are pleased that the important issue of affordability checks will now be subjected to proper levels of parliamentary scrutiny.
“The fact that our survey reached the required 100,000 signatures threshold in just 27 days is powerful testament to the strength of feeling shared by bettors over the proposed checks. This has today been recognised by the Petitions Committee.
“No other form of leisure activity is subjected to the kinds of restrictions being proposed by the Government and so it is right that MPs have the chance to forensically debate this issue.
“The BHA and other racing stakeholders will work with MPs on both sides of the House to ensure that the views of British racing and those who bet on the sport are properly represented within the debate.
“While we support the need to protect individuals from the risk of gambling-related harm it remains the case that millions of people enjoy betting on horseracing without suffering any ill effects.
“The BHA will therefore continue to push for changes to the Gambling Commission’s proposals on affordability checks to protect the sport’s financial future and limit the impact on racing bettors.”
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Julie Harrington, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, says a judgement on the success of Premier Racedays and Sunday evening racing should not be made overnight.
The first of 170 Premier Racedays planned for 2024 was staged at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, while Wolverhampton created a slice of history when becoming the first track to race in the UK on Sunday night.
While both schemes have come in for criticism in some quarters, Harrington is keen to assess all of the relevant data relating to the six trial Sunday evening fixtures and the two-year pilot of Premier Racedays before making any snap decisions.
“Premier Racedays were introduced this year to showcase the best our sport can offer to new and existing fans as part of a broader strategy to grow British racing,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.
“And while this concept will see a gradual roll-out, with innovations and enhancements to the customer experience delivered throughout the year, it has been heartening to see the positive initial response to Premier racing from the public, racecourses and participants.
“There were high-quality runners at Plumpton on Sunday, with races taking place in front of healthy and engaged crowds. And of course, the year began with a big crowd at Cheltenham enjoying quality racing at our first Premier fixture.
“The 170 Premier Racedays planned for 2024 reflect a significant investment by the sport. These are fixtures proposed by the racecourses which meet strict criteria, including around prize-money and race quality. We should be encouraged that so many racecourses want to invest in and stage these Premier events.
“We will also see more promotional work and, we hope, an HBLB-funded national campaign to support the work already being done by GBR and the racecourses.
“Ultimately, the objective is to encourage more, better-quality horses to be bred, trained, owned and raced in Britain. The sport has agreed that putting on high-quality, valuable racing is the way to achieve this.
“We must accept that this will not happen overnight. But we have made a start on creating and developing an attractive product to secure a long-term future for the sport by encouraging greater engagement with it. Time and experience will help us determine the optimum number of Premier Racedays with regards to racecourses and the horse population.”
She added: “This is the start of a two-year pilot and so we should resist the temptation to make snap judgements on its success based on limited experience. Throughout the pilot we will learn what does and does not work, how we can best package and promote Premier Racedays and ultimately achieve growth that will benefit all levels of the sport.
“Alongside Premier Racedays we also started the trial of Sunday evening racing at Wolverhampton. This saw good prize-money on offer to healthy field sizes meaning competitive racing was taking place in a window we believe affords us an opportunity to grow engagement with the sport.
“Clearly there are a range of views regarding this pilot and we respect those opinions. For this reason, the financial performance of these fixtures will be far from the only measure of their viability; we will continue to seek the views of all those involved in servicing such meetings and this feedback will form a core part of the ultimate assessment of the pilot.”
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The British Horseracing Authority is working to substantiate warnings that the government’s proposed affordability checks will drive bettors to an unlicensed black market.
The review to the Gambling Act has focused on problem gamblers and thus the concept of financial checks for those regularly betting, whether to a damaging extent or not, has been under discussion during the white paper stage.
As racing is inherently linked to the gambling industry these limitations are likely to have damaging consequences for the sport, and grave concerns have been aired by a number of leading figures over the potential fallout.
One projected consequence is that the horse racing bettor will turn to unlicensed and unregulated gambling firms if betting via established operators becomes unavailable to them. A number of owners have already spoken out over what they say are obtrusive checks, saying they will walk away or dramatically cut their interests.
The BHA is highlighting this to the government and the Gambling Commission as the nature of the reviewed Gambling Act takes shape, with a significant survey undertaken to illustrate the risk.
Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, addressed the matter on a press call about the 2024 fixture list, saying: “There’s is a huge amount of uncertainty created by the the review of the Gambling Act and the white paper. If the financial risked-based checks are frictionless, as we we hope they will be but everybody is rightly concerned, I think being in control of our destiny and in control of what we can is important in this environment.
“There is a huge amount of work that has gone on globally and a lot of work already published in the public domain by the Asian Racing Foundation about the factual existence of a black market and the sort of volumes that are going through. It’s well-funded academic research and of course we’ve shared that with colleagues at the Gambling Commission.
“We do believe that there are punters going to the black market, there is research that shows it. We’ve done our own surveys with punters, it’s really good to gather evidence to show both the government and the Gambling Commission about our own customers, our regular, engaged racing fans who read racing publications, what are they telling us? How many of them are telling us they have been approached by operators? How many of them are saying they’ve followed up on that approach?
“What we’ve been doing is work behind the scenes to make sure that can be substantiated. Anecdotally, we have worked with a lot of owners and they have allowed us to share their case studies of being approached by operators – whether that’s grey market, they’re not UK-licensed operators, or black market – offering them terms to get a bet on.
“For us to give named major owners to the Gambling Commission as evidence to say ‘don’t just take our word for it, here are people who are being directly approached and enticed to get a bet on’.”
Harrington also stressed the importance of making sure the government acknowledged a distinction between skill-based betting, such as on sport, and on games of chance in casinos or the virtual equivalent.
In addition to that, Harrington spoke of the need for an understanding of the reality of the affordability checks – which the government insists will be “frictionless” and “unobtrusive” for the vast majority – as bookmakers may currently be overzealous in their restrictions out of undue caution.
“Within the white paper the government does acknowledge the difference between a horse racing bettor and a casino bettor. This is absolutely different in that it’s a game of skill versus chance, speed of play, all of those measures,” she said.
“We just tell them, tell them and tell them again, the difference, the potential impact. We know they’re listening, we know in every speech that is made, the Select Committee hearings, all the right things are said in terms of ‘we don’t want to damage horse racing, this is an important cultural asset’.
“What we need is interventions and as the Gambling Commission brings the consultation to a close, we need the frictionless financial risk-based checks to be out there and being tested.
“Rather than at the moment, there is the suspicion that operators are acting in a more draconian fashion ahead of those measures, because until they’ve got visibility of them and they’re being tested they are going to do that because they are scared of a heavy fine.”
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The long-awaited 2024 fixture list has been released by the British Horseracing Authority.
The introduction of ‘Premier Racedays’ had already been announced, while there has also been an effort to significantly boost Sunday racing.
There will be 170 Premier Raceday cards in 2024 across 38 courses. In comparison only 115 meetings in 2023 would have met the criteria which the BHA believes shows the willingness of courses to improve the product they are offering.
It is believed that by creating two tiers it will help point customers towards the headline meetings, and by giving them more space in the 2-4pm slot giving them “room to breath” will allow the sport to better promote stories and improve betting revenue.
During the window there will be two Premier fixtures with only one other allowed in the 2-4pm slot on 33 Saturdays while on the remaining 19 four meetings will be allowed. Of the others, five meetings will begin earlier than this year with the addition of a new fixture at Chelmsford making six. There will be 36 meetings starting later than this year.
As for the famously packed Saturday on July 13, Newmarket, York and Ascot will race between 2-4pm while Chester will start later with Hamilton and Salisbury in the evening.
Sunday racing will feature better quality racing and also a trial of evening racing. There will be 29 Premier Sunday Racedays.
There will be a trial of six Sunday evenings in the first quarter of 2024 with £145,000 in prize-money required for each, while there will be additional payments for jockeys and grooms involved at these meetings.
Premier Racedays will benefit from a total of £3.8million in funding from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB).
Another issue addressed is that of field sizes, statistically at their lowest for 30 years over both Flat and jumps. As a result 20 National Hunt fixtures have been cut meaning there will be 1,468 compared to 1,488 in 2023.
Another initiative to increase competitiveness is that class four handicaps with three or fewer declarations will now be cancelled.
Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, said: “Compiling this year’s fixture list was a truly collaborative process on a scale which I have never before seen in our industry, with the sport pulling in the same direction to achieve a shared objective. I am extremely grateful to my teams at the BHA and everyone across the sport who has engaged so constructively in this process.
“There was agreement across the industry that steps were required to increase racing’s appeal to customers at the earliest opportunity, as well as addressing the current headwinds facing the sport.
“We accept and expected that, with significant change, there will always be some who feel that the cards have not fallen their way. However, the objective for these changes is that they grow the sport as a whole, with benefits that reach throughout the entire industry in the medium to long-term.
“This is the first major step in what is a long-term transformational plan. The expectation is that the changes should generate more revenue, which will allow us to invest in other key areas – including attracting new fans and new owners and increasing the reward and recognition of all our existing participants.
“All of these changes are being introduced on a trial basis. They will be closely monitored and measured.”
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The Randox Grand National is to remain at its current start time of 5.15pm, despite the British Horseracing Authority launching a new ‘premier tier’ of racing between 2-4pm on Saturday afternoons.
The period between 2pm and 4pm will be restricted to three meetings, including up to two ‘premier’ cards, with other Saturday fixtures scheduled to start after the window ends or, on occasions, before it opens.
But racing’s “crown jewels” will take place outside the allotted ‘shop window’, with the Betfred Derby another due to be later than 4pm in 2024.
BHA chief executive Julie Harrington and Richard Wayman, chief operating officer, took questions from the press via Zoom following the announcement of the new strategy.
Wayman said of the National: “There will be certain Saturdays of the year, exceptional Saturdays, when the key race is not in the 2-4pm slot.
“In 48 or 49 Saturdays of the year that will be how it works, but there will be two or three others when we’ll have to be flexible and do something different, like for the Grand National and the Derby. We won’t stick rigidly to 2-4pm if the big race of the day is off at 5.15pm, so there will be some flexibility.”
Harington added: “Around the crown jewel fixtures we need to make sure we use our core fixtures to best advantage. So if we know there are people in betting shops on the morning of the Grand National there could be a live fixture for people to be betting on, so they are some of the innovations we are looking to do with the core fixtures.”
One afternoon in July that has caused much wringing of hands in the past is the so-called ‘Super Saturday’ which sees the July Cup at Newmarket, John Smith’s Cup at York, the Summer Mile at Ascot and a fixture at Chester, the latter now looking a prime candidate to be moved to either an earlier or later slot.
Alcohol Free and Rob Hornby won the July Cup last season (Tim Goode/PA)
When asked if that day would now be a thing of the past Wayman said: “That would be a typical Group One Saturday when there would be three fixtures in the premier window. What would differ compared with currently is that the fourth fixture would not race between 2-4pm, it would have to move outside that window.
“There are financial incentives for some of those racecourses to stage a premier fixture on a different day, a Sunday for example, and that might be attractive and it might not, but if it isn’t it will still be different to what it is at the moment.”
He went on: “Premierisation will happen every Saturday, but most Saturdays there will just be a two-hour window when there will only be three fixtures, up to two will be premier fixtures. On a smaller number of Saturdays we will allow four fixtures in the two-hour window. Premierisation will exist 52 weeks of the year. Roughly two-thirds of Saturdays will have three fixtures in the protected window, we’ll look to do that on the bigger Saturdays.”
The key question among all this, though, is where is the extra money coming from?
Harrington replied: “Anybody who has been around this process for a lot of years realises the next phase is around funding proposals that are normally approved by September time. Underpinning this is higher minimum values for those premier races, we think it’s going to be around 10 per cent of the fixture list.
“We know that our funding is a blending of executive contribution and central funding and those new higher minimum values, I should anticipate, will be in the same way but we now need to work through with our colleagues at the racecourses and the Levy Board about how that is going to work.”
And will courses who lose Saturday afternoon slots be offered compensation?
“It is too early to say,” said Harrington. “The funding process every year is a really complex jigsaw to put together, but rest assured the discussions have already begun but it is underpinned that the premier tier will have enhanced levels of prize-money.”
The lack of quality on a Sunday has long been cristicised, and Harrington said a key aim of the BHA is to improve it.
“In the past racing has tried to get a quality product going on a Sunday before, but we need the whole sport to take a more strategic view. Potentially there will be incentives put in place to fill those slots,” she said.
Wayman added: “There has been a general reluctance for commercial reasons to move to Sundays, but one of the things we see changing in 2024 is the opportunity to stage premier fixtures and all that comes with that, which could involve different funding which may provide greater incentive to move to a Sunday than they have had in the past.
“It might not be sufficient for all courses to race on a Sunday as their business model is just not going to work. However, there are a number of courses who stage some decent fixtures on a Sunday that with further investment could be even better, Pontefract for example.”
The British Horseracing Authority has been working hard with racing’s stakeholders (PA)
Crucially, can the BHA give any guarantees that premierisation will work?
“Like most industry strategies it is based on a set of assumptions, but they have not been plucked out of the air,” said Harrington.
“It has been helpful having open relationships with media rights companies, racecourses and bookmakers around the hard facts of the revenues coming in at the moment. What is absolutely important is that we don’t take a one-year view of this because if you did you wouldn’t do anything. We’ve got to remember the aim is to produce a more attractive product.
“While we may lose some attendance revenue on a Saturday afternoon it is more than offset by growing off-course revenues because we know that we cannibalise our own revenue within that Saturday afternoon slot. We need a multi-year approach and to be brave.”
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The British Horseracing Authority intends to ensure the affordability checks on lower-level gambling spend are as unobtrusive as proposed in the government’s Gambling Act Review White Paper.
The paper proposes that the threshold for these checks is £125 net loss within a month or £500 within a year and also states that the checks will be ‘frictionless for customers and conducted online by credit reference agencies’.
Julie Harrington, chief executive of the BHA, felt the nature of these checks was crucial to their success and that their practical implication would decide how much of an impact they would have on racing’s revenue.
She said: “The numbers around the less intrusive checks, the £125, are much lower (than anticipated), but it depends on the big unknown for us.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons on the Gambling Act Review White Paper (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)
“The work we will do with the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government is how unintrusive and friction-free those checks are.
“The one area we want to get visibility on to see how much of a risk it is to us is those friction-free tests at the lower end of losses.”
Harrington was concerned that the paper’s estimation of the financial losses racing will suffer as a result of the measure was an underestimation, with a total reduction in income between £8.4 and £14.9 million the predicted sum.
“The government’s own economic impact work is estimating between £8.4 and £14.9 million negative impact per annum,” she said.
“We want to work with our partners in the media rights companies to do our own economic check on those numbers. We’re a little concerned that it might be an underestimation.”
We welcome today’s publication by @DCMS of the Gambling Act Review White Paper and look forward to engaging constructively in consultations with Government and partners to secure a bright future for our sport.
— British Horseracing Authority (@BHAHorseracing) April 27, 2023
Another factor the BHA intend to raise with the Gambling Commission is the seasonal nature of racing gambling, with punters likely to stake and potentially lose more when the big festivals are under way.
This could bring a customer who is not a habitual gambler close to the threshold for enhanced checks and the BHA has data to share to highlight these patterns among those who bet on racing.
“Part of our conversations with the Gambling Commission has got to be taking into account customer behaviour and historic customer behaviour shows that people do save up for those major festivals in the same way that other people would save up for holiday,” Harrington said.
“We’ve got a huge amount of evidence on that to share with the Gambling Commission. The wording is also around net losses, so we know some of our customers might use their winnings from a major festival to fund their punting for the remainder of the year – how will those checks take that into account?
“Particularly the 90-day threshold, you could still be losing money in July that you won in March. It’s a detail that we need to get some context on.”
British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington has “robustly condemned” the actions of protesters who delayed the Grand National – and also announced a “painstaking” analysis will take place in an attempt to understand what caused three fatalities over the three days of the meeting.
Sandy Thompson’s Hill Sixteen suffered a fatal fall at the first fence in the National – which was delayed by around 15 minutes after animal activists got on to the track – adding to the deaths of Dark Raven earlier in the afternoon and Envoye Special on Thursday.
“Our thoughts are with everyone connected to the horses who suffered fatal injuries this week. No one will be more affected by this news than the trainers, owners and stable staff who have provided these horses with first-class care and attention throughout their lives,” Harrington said in a statement.
“The BHA and Aintree racecourse will now analyse the races in painstaking detail, as is the case every year, to build on our existing data and help us understand what caused these incidents.
Protesters are detained by police on the course perimeter (Tim Goode/PA)
“British racing works tirelessly to improve the sport’s safety record and reduce avoidable risk. Every incident is reviewed by the BHA alongside the racecourse and other bodies. As a sport we have for years shown great determination and commitment to improve welfare standards by taking measured scientific, evidence-based, regulatory and education-based steps.
“It is for this reason that the fatal injury rate in the sport has reduced by over 1/3 in the last 20 years, to 0.2% of runners.”
Reflecting on the protesters on the course, Harrington said: “We respect the right of anyone to hold views about our sport but we robustly condemn the reckless and potentially harmful actions of a handful of people in disrupting the race at a time when horses were in the parade ring.
“Those involved in British racing are rightly proud of our sport and the role it plays in providing an unparalleled quality of life for horses bred for racing. Love and respect for horses is at the heart of everything we do.
“The Grand National is and always will be an iconic sporting event and the actions of a small number of people will do nothing to diminish its huge and enduring international appeal.”
Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale believes racing needs to be pro-active in the debate with activists.
“What this has done has bring the issues the sport was facing to the fore and allowed us to get out there and talk about them confidently – because we should,” Truesdale told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday.
A protester is detained by police (Tim Goode/PA)
“We should be out there talking about the measures we’ve taken, how much care these horses get, the changes we’ve made over the years, not just at Aintree, but everywhere and we should be proud of that.”
Truesdale and his team had employed a huge security presence, but it was still not enough to prevent some protesters from getting on to the track.
“We should be out there calling the protestors what they are, which is law breakers. The impact they had on the horses yesterday would have been completely at odds with that they are trying to achieve,” he said.
“We should be telling our story positively, that is what we should be doing. We don’t want this to become a war of words as that doesn’t seem to cut through to these organisations. What we should be doing is engaging with the more rational organisations like World Horse Welfare and the RSPCA, all of whom can see the changes we’ve made and who continue, rightly, to put us under pressure to make more changes.
“I was with Roly Owers (World Horse Welfare chief executive) yesterday on the radio and I agreed with pretty much everything he said and those are the people we should be working with as a sport whilst telling our story.
“A site of that size and that layout is very difficult to completely secure. You could never look people in the eye and say ‘that can’t happen’.”
On protesters making it on to the course despite their intentions being well publicised, Truesdale said: “I actually walked it yesterday morning and even then we had hi-vis policeman out on the other side of those fences.
“I think the police and our security teams deserve immense credit for the effort they put in, they did as much as they possibly could but the reality is we were never going to prevent that on a site of that size and layout. I thought it was dealt with extremely efficiently and well but we will continue to review security as we always do.
“The fact there was only a 15-minute delay is a tribute to everyone involved.
“We need to review the whole thing over the next few weeks, it would be wrong to give specifics this morning. The BHA team will do that and come up with any recommendations as they have done every year. We should be setting the tone and saying we will not rest until we continue to reduce fatality rates. I’m sure there’s plenty we can come up with.”
Protesters outside Aintree on Saturday (Peter Byrne/PA)
The BHA works with World Horse Welfare on a number of matters.
“Yesterday was a very sad day,” said Roly Owers, chief executive of the charity, in a statement issued to the PA news agency.
“From Aintree to television screens across the world, this year’s meet was difficult to watch. The loss of Envoye Special, Dark Raven and Hill Sixteen is heart-breaking and we offer our condolences to their connections who we know will be devastated.
“Whilst it is true that accidents can happen anywhere – and the risks can never be removed altogether – jump racing poses specific risks that it has a responsibility to relentlessly reduce wherever possible. Whilst in the immediate aftermath of these events it is a time to reflect and review what has happened, it is clear to us that despite the changes made by Aintree and racing to date, much more needs to be done.
“In practical terms, this is an urgent reminder of the need to bring work on the Jump Race Risk Model to the fore. The model is a key tool to help inform how to make this and other jump races safer. Progress on this key project has not been quick enough and this needs to change now that racing has an agreement in place with the Royal Veterinary College to help take it forward.
“Overall, the types of questions that need to be considered are the number of runners, how to reduce the number of fallers, how to better manage loose horses and how to better manage the start.
“No one can accept fatalities as a certainty at any race and no one, least of all anyone in racing, wants to see what we witnessed in yesterday’s Grand National.”
Police officers respond to Animal Rising activists attempting to invade the course at Aintree (Peter Byrne/PA)
Merseyside Police arrested 118 people on Saturday after scores of activists climbed fences, with at least two fixing themselves to a jump using glue and lock-on devices, according to Animal Rising.
Animal Rising spokesperson Nathan McGovern said in a statement on Sunday: “We believe there were 118 arrests of Animal Rising supporters yesterday, with 68 in custody following the action.
“Five have been released thus far and 42 were de-arrested and turned out on to the street by police. No one has been charged at this time.
“The actions taken at Aintree yesterday aimed to prevent harm from coming to horses in the Grand National, with Hill Sixteen sadly falling in the race itself – a death that would have been prevented if the race had not been run.
“Supporters of Animal Rising do not take the risk of arrest lightly, but taking action to protect animals and nature is more important than upholding business as usual.
“This is just the start of many peaceful actions to really create a national conversation about our fractured connection with animals and our natural world this summer, whether they result in arrests or not.”
Also in a statement on Sunday, Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Paul White said: “The Grand National race was temporarily delayed for a short period of time while officers dealt with protestors who attempted to gain entry onto Aintree racecourse, and this was across the whole site which covers an extensive perimeter of around 5km which in parts is open land.
“As you can understand, the safety and wellbeing of everyone is of paramount concern when dealing with large-scale public events such as this, and this includes those who are protesting.
“To put into perspective, it is estimated that around 70,000 visitors attended the Grand National and the event went safely with an enjoyable atmosphere despite the short interruption from protestors.
“We had a robust plan in place to deal with incidents, and as such our officers and security staff were able to quickly deal with the situation in a safe and appropriate manner.
“It is also important to add that we respect the right to a peaceful protest and expression of views, but criminal behaviour and disorder will not be tolerated and sadly this is what took place at yesterday’s event in an attempt to disrupt the race which resulted in the arrests.”
British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington has responded to criticism of the sport’s leadership amid continuing outcry over the introduction of the new whip regulations.
Thirteen-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls said on Friday he was “livid” with the timing of the changes ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, which starts on March 14, and that the BHA needed to show “a bit of backbone” to stand up for the sport.
No less than 19 jockeys were given whip suspensions in the first week that the new rules came into force on February 19. A further 12 riders were suspended when the whip review committee convened for a second time.
Nicholls accused the BHA of “appeasing” critics of the sport rather than standing up for its participants.
Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday programme, Harrington said: “Obviously I’m disappointed to hear those comments, but actually it does take backbone to make some unpopular decisions. We know there is huge passion on either side of the debate about the whip and I have to be strong in that we are not pandering to those people who will never love the sport.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure the sport is fair and also that it’s as attractive as possible to those people who don’t have a strong opinion either way on the sport.
“I think everybody would agree there’s different sides and different schools of thought on whether the whip is a welfare issue, but I think everybody does agree that it is a perception issue for the sport. I think it would be negligent of us to know that and just sit and do nothing about it.
“The whip review panel on our behalf was filled with people who work really closely with horses and it was their strong recommendation to continue to keep the whip for encouragement, because they believe it is not a welfare issue.
“Let me be clear, I do not believe it is an issue of welfare, but I am also leading a sport where I know there is a huge, passionate debate on both sides and difference of opinion there.”
Lorcan Williams will miss the Cheltenham Festival after being suspended for overuse of the whip on Prestige Novices’ Hurdle winner Makin’yourmindup last month (John Walton/PA)
The changes to the whip regulations see a reduction of one strike. It can now be used six times on the Flat and seven over jumps, with a disqualification for the horse if riders go four or more times over that threshold. Suspensions for jockeys are also more severe.
Harrington added: “It’s also a fairness issue, to make sure we have fair results – if you are connections of a horse that is ridden within the rules but you lose out to a horse that is ridden outside the rules, there needs to be sufficient deterrent to make sure that is fair and there isn’t a win at all costs mentality.
“There’s never a good time to make changes and making changes is difficult.
“There will always be people who disagree, but there is a clear understanding that those rules are in place now and it’s up to the jockeys to ride within those rules.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/230564458-scaled.jpg12802560Geegeez Newshttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngGeegeez News2023-03-05 12:24:302023-03-05 12:25:14Harrington refutes claims BHA pandering to racing’s critics with whip changes
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