British Horseracing Authority reviewing Cheltenham starts in context of Aintree

Acting chief executive Brant Dunshea says the British Horseracing Authority is considering what can be done to “mitigate the risk” of false starts at the Grand National meeting – while avoiding a “Charge of the Light Brigade” scenario – after the first three days of the Cheltenham Festival met with problems in that regard.

A series of races were preceded by unsatisfactory starts, with the Ultima Handicap Chase requiring three attempts to get under way on the first day of the meeting, while the Queen Mother Champion Chase had a standing start and leading fancy Maughreen notably lost all chance when whipping around as the tapes went up in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Dunshea admitted his disappointment, but said: “I think it’s important to emphasise our starters apply a consistent approach to the way they control the starts, and that is something we have had in operation now involving standing starts for some years.

“It’s a difficult environment for both starters and jockeys. It’s championship racing, you’ve got jockeys who are acutely aware of where they are at the start, you’ve got the starters who are required to hold their nerve and ensure that everyone’s getting a fair start and so you have a lot of things coming together in a very difficult environment.

“I can assure you of one thing, if our starters were just dropping the flag and letting them go, by the end of the week it would have been like the Charge of the Light Brigade and that’s what we absolutely cannot have.”

Speaking on a BHA briefing call, Dunshea acknowledged riders are not purposefully contravening the regulations and work will continue to try to prevent a similar occurrence at Aintree’s three-day fixture next month.

He added: “We are looking at what we could do differently leading up to Aintree to try to mitigate the risk of a similar set of problems and I’m still working on that with Shaun (Parker, head of stewarding) and the team and it may involve some further communications and engagement with the jockeys ahead of the meeting.

“I think it was a combination of things (at Cheltenham) and largely our jockeys do a wonderful job in terms of trying to balance that fine line between competition and complying with requirements of the procedures and regulations.”

The decision of owner Rich Ricci and trainer Willie Mullins to reroute Lossiemouth from the Champion Hurdle to the Mares’ Hurdle was another much-discussed topic throughout the week, with leading hopes Constitution Hill and State Man crashing out in the main event while the grey cruised to victory in what was seen as the easier contest against her own sex.

There have been calls for the mares-only events to be scrapped but Richard Wayman, the BHA’s director of racing, believes those races have been “key to success” in reinvigorating the number of mares in training and should be looked at in the “broader context” of a long-running strategy.

He did concede that “tweaks” could be made to the conditions of the races, adding: “For example, that could mean a horse that had won a Grade One in the previous year or so couldn’t run in the Mares’ Hurdle, that’s the sort of thing I’m sure the Jockey Club will be looking at when the dust settles and they look back at this year.”

Wayman also pointed to the relative lack of British runners in the Grade One novice and juvenile hurdles, saying: “I think fewer than 30 per cent of the runners in those races were British-trained and that whole supply chain issue is clearly not something that can be fixed easily but it’s something we think, as a sport, we have to address.

“We have a programme of work that will, over the years ahead, try to tackle that issue so we can support more breeders, owners and trainers in Britain in terms of that supply of quality, young jump horses coming into training and ending up at Cheltenham and other big jump meetings.”

With the Randox Grand National now less than three weeks away, the field is starting to take shape and much emphasis has been placed on horses who are likely to miss the cut despite posting strong staying performances over the year.

The situation has raised the idea of so-called ‘win-and-you’re-in’ races for the Aintree spectacular, with Wayman underlining that would be a decision for Aintree and its owner Jockey Club Racecourses.

He said: “Our view would be that it’s got merits, I think creating the link between what goes on during the season and the actual big day itself certainly has some benefits.

“There are negatives and I think that’s the reason why, when we’ve discussed it, it hasn’t been introduced. Obviously that win-and-you’re-in horse gets in potentially above a better, higher-rated horse and that’s a principle issue that some people might disagree with.

“The other issue is you could end up with a horse in the race that could be some way out of the weights and you raise the issue of if the horse is effectively outclassed despite winning the win-and-you’re-in race.

“Ultimately it’s their decision, there are pros and cons and it’s not been an avenue the Jockey Club and Aintree have decided to go down.”