Average field sizes in Britain increased slightly in 2015, with the average field for all types of races up to 8.77 runners per race from 8.66 in 2014. Flat races were up to 9.02 runners per race from 8.93.
These statistics are part of the British Horseracing Authority's 2015 Datapack, which also showed that 12.9% of races (10.9% for flat races) had fewer than six runners, down from 15.4% in 2014 (12.3% for flat races). Last year, 61.7% of races had more than eight runners (65.9% for flat races), up from 59.2% in 2014 (63.9% for flat races).
An increase in competitiveness in races is reflected in the fact that races with an odds-on favourite also saw a slight decrease, down 1% from last year to 14.6%.
In addition, after three straight years of declines, the numbers of horses in training are on the rise. A total of 13,886 horses were listed as in training last year, compared to 13,528 in 2014. Click here for the complete Datapack.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
