Big Guns Boycott Lingfield

I was pleased to see that many of our leading trainers are not making entries at next Monday's Lingfield meeting in which prizemoney falls below the standard set out by the Horsemen's Tariff Group.  David, Paul Nicholls, Nigel Twiston-Davies and Philip Hobbs are not represented in those races along with a number of other trainers and as a consequence the numbers in those races have halved.  It is just a shame that all the trainers have not refrained from making entries in these races - if they all stood firm together the tracks would have to do something about it.

The trouble is of course that some people are always going to be thinking about their own interests rather than looking at the bigger picture - with many of the leading trainers not represented, it provides a much easier opportunity for some of the lesser handlers who are happy to run for peanuts.  If the courses could put up £100 as prize money and be sure that they would get some runners, I am sure they would do it - it is time for the trainers to stand united...for everyone's sakes.  It seems to me that there is too much racing and not enough prize money - when you hear trainers say they go for the races, not for the prize money you know what you are up against.

Yesterday's meeting at Taunton was well funded and subsequently they had good sized, competitive fields.  Even the bumper was worth over £2,000 to the winner, and that compares very favourably with the likes of today's all-weather meetings.  Our runners performed creditably yesterday without getting their heads in front - it was their first runs for us and I am sure they will be winning races in the future.  It was an enjoyable afternoon for all involved, as the following photograph depicts!