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You’re quite right Tonge. I should have added that. I still wonder whether Friendly Soul putting her foot in a hole should have been deemed a non-runner after the race. Could that be classed as an exceptional circumstance beyond the control of both horse & rider even though it’s part way through a race? But to keep things simple just go back to how it was before the BHA came out with this new policy.
You could argue the best way to keep a horse fit and healthy is keep running it while they are enjoying it and making it look so easy. The racing at this time of year is fairly uncompetitive. Hopefully she’ll make it 6 in a row tomorrow evening.
In this day and age however with Social media there is always that nagging worry at the back of my mind what if the horse should get injured after running numerous times in quick succession? No doubt the BHA would be onto it like a tramp on chips.
Are these non-runner decisions being made by some faceless individual at Stockley Park?
Once all the horses are in the stalls there shouldn’t be any non-runners.
At least today’s incident could be argued that the horse was a non-runner as he didn’t leave the stalls and nor did the jockey.
The BHA have really opened a Pandora’s Box on this issue.
Whilst I respect the view Jason Tan on the Nick Luck Daily today, his argument did seem to me nonsensical. It was akin to saying you could have VAR at one end of the pitch but not the other if cameras were only in some of the stalls.
My own view is that much of the over-regulated Oceanic influence in the administration of UK racing hasn’t been to the benefit of the sport over here at all.
I see the Racing Post have altered the form record on their website yet again. Initially Benvenuto Cellini was shown as a non-runner in a 13 runner field.
Then changed it to show he did finish 10th and put a duck egg in his form figures.
Today it now shows a 14 runner field but with A Taste Of Glory finishing 10th and the form for Benvenuto Cellini being voided and a V sitting in his form figures.
Even the trade paper appears flummoxed on how to deal with the non-runner decision on Saturday.
I agree with Ralph Beckett that The Derby should be moved to a Friday. There is more than enough anecdotal evidence that “nobody seems to work in this country on a Friday”. From first hand experience the M25 is a lot quieter nowadays on Friday’s than any other week day at rush hour. Also it wouldn’t have to fight for media interest and the weekend follows.
As for the racing at Epsom it almost became farcical. The obvious track bias on the Friday and then watching the world’s highest rated horse finishing like a 4 mile chaser at Hexham in heavy ground. It was a pretty poor watch.
I lost faith in the BHA with its over-zealous modifications to the Grand National that rendered its historical records pretty meaningless. Much of it not even based on proper analysis.
So here we are again. When these new rules on non-runners were introduced it seemed blatantly obvious then that the BHA and stewards were going to tie themselves up in knots.
It won’t be long before connections of beaten horses will be demanding their horse is deemed a non-runner for all manner of reasons and wanting recompense.
I think most punters can accept that bad luck plays a part in any sport and most do not want the VARification of horse racing.
We really are on a slippery slope here. What about Friendly Soul putting her foot in a dirty great big hole at Haydock.
Shouldn’t she have been deemed a non-runner as she had no chance of winning the race through no fault of her own?
I too believe World Pool are beginning to dictate terms on how British racing is run and administered.
I notice the Racing Post website has now amended its form record of the race. Earlier today it showed only 13 ran excluding Benvenuto Cellini. It now shows 14 runners with Benvenuto Cellini finishing 10th and a duck egg in his form figures.
From a future punting point of view it would seem unfair to expunge from the form book the fact he ran the whole race and finished a well beaten 10th on soft ground so I’m glad they have reinstated it.
A diabolical decision and all thanks to the BHA endless tinkering with the rules.
Had that same incident occurred to any of the rank outsiders in the race would the stewards have reviewed it and deemed it a non-runner? I don’t think so.
In fact 80-1 shot Poker did stumble out of the stalls and almost unshipped his jockey so should he be a non-runner as perhaps there was a patch of false ground in front of stall 4?!
Now I know why! Strange how some horses that have a winning run then decide they don’t fancy it any more.
A mixed jumps/flat meeting at Haydock, so you’ve guessed it, the positional graphics on screen for the jumps races including the NH flat race, but not for the following flat races (bar an accidental split second). Will anyone from RTV come forward and explain as blowed if I know why they keep ruining the jump racing coverage.
Thank you for the feedback. This system would give Mullins an opportunity to still win the title but it would require more horses aimed at Class 1 races below Grade 1. It’s not as though he doesn’t have enough horses capable of winning Grade 2s and Premier Handicaps this side of the Irish Sea.
Not that I’m a betting man but it might open up a few different bets on points scored either monthly or by season? Just throwing it out there.
3 runner race in the 1.55 at Kelso. An unseat at hurdle 2. Thankfully the positional graphic stayed on screen to inform us who was leading and in 2nd place otherwise we might have been confused.
Going back to my points based system for last season. There were 191 Class 1 races last season so giving these races more weight in terms of points but ensuring one graded race wasn’t worth more than the next you could use the following points based system:
Class 1 Grade 1 – 25 points
Class 1 Grade 2 – 20 points
Class 1 Premier H’cap – 15 points
Class 1 Listed – 10 pointsFor the remaining classes of race these would be scored as follows;
Class 2 – 4 points
Class 3 – 3 points
Class 4 – 2 points
Class 5 – 1 pointHad that system been in place in 2025/26 the trainers championship would have looked like this;
1st Skelton 931 pts (194 wins)
2nd Henderson 472 pts (87 wins)
3rd Nicholls 397 pts (94 wins)
4th Murphy 370 pts (144 wins)
5th Pauling 339 pts (94 wins)
6th Mullins 300 pts (16 wins)
7th Snowden 243 pts (86 wins)
8th F O’Brien 210 pts (82 wins)
9th G&J Moore 191 pts (57 wins)
10th Derham 190 pts (53 wins)This gives those winning at the highest level more points but not have it skewed by prize money for one particular race (say the National) and placed horses who in my view should have no baring whatsoever on the trainers title.
Skelton won 31 Class 1 races in 2025/26 with the next best Henderson with 14 and Mullins with 13. Henderson won 73 races at Class 2 or lower whereas Mullins won just 3. My points based system reflects that more than the current system.
Sorry to keep banging on about this but what are RTV up to with those awful positional graphics at Punchestown?
2.30 no graphics
3.05 graphics fall off the screen 78 seconds in
3.40 no graphics
4.15 graphics on screen
4.50 graphics on screen
5.25 no graphics
6.05 graphics on screen
6.35 graphics fall off screen after just 10 secondsWhy do they show graphics for Grade 1s when it’s hardly difficult to know the position of each runner (and spoil the viewing of those races) but don’t show them for bumper races? Are they getting confused with flat racing where thankfully they’ve given up showing them.
It’s an utter mess but it would appear RTV couldn’t give a toss.
Thanks Ex RubyLight. Yes I hadn’t appreciated the proximity of those stables to the M5 until Alan’s interesting post. It does look as though the power base for UK NH racing has definitely moved.
I’m not a follower of flat racing as such but with 9 racecourses in Yorkshire of which 6 are flat only I’m guessing this is where most trainers interests lie in that part of the world?
