All-weather Fixtures to Trial Transparent Entry and Declaration Process

A trial of a new transparent entry and declaration process will take place at all-weather fixtures this winter following approval from the BHA Racing Group and the sport's Executive Committee, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Tuesday. The trial is designed to investigate whether making the current entry and declaration process fully transparent and removing the re-opening and re-offering of races can improve efficiency and benefit participants. The trial of open entries and declarations will run from Dec. 1, 2018 to Feb. 28, 2019 and cover all flat races barring the Winter Derby. Trainers will be surveyed following completion of the trial, with their views combined with quantitative information as part of a full review which will inform whether the process could be rolled out beyond the scope of the trial.

“Anecdotal evidence has, for a number of years, suggested that a transparent system of entries and declarations could bring benefits for both horsemen and racing's customers,” said Jack Connor, Racing Development Manager at the BHA. “This trial, which has been approved by the BHA Racing Group, gives us a chance to monitor whether such a system works for trainers and their teams. It will also allow us to measure the impact of such changes on field sizes and non-runners, enabling an evidence based comparison of the two systems.”