Non-Standard Race Times to Be Trialled in February

[Wandering Eyes]

A trial of non-standard race times will be held in February, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced on Wednesday. Non-standard race times are races not programmed on the standard five-minute marks (i.e. 3:08), and the objective of the trial is to explore the potential benefits to the sport and its customers when the volume of racing in Britain and Ireland is relatively high. The trial, discussed and supported by the Levy Board’s Betting Liaison Group, will last four weeks. Racecourses, media rights companies and broadcasters have reportedly welcomed the opportunity to trial and assess the concept.

Non-standard times would only be employed on days when there are four or more meetings being staged concurrently in Britain or Ireland, with February slated to have 11. Any fixtures that will be broadcasted by terrestrial television in Britain or Ireland will continue to use standard race times, except any third ITVG Racing meetings on a Saturday, which would have non-standard times for non-televised races.

Richard Wayman, the BHA’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “Working closely with our colleagues in Ireland and other partners across the sport, we are always looking for ways to improve our scheduling of races to benefit racing’s customers. The impacts, both positive and negative, of non-standard race times will only be known once the initiative is trialled. The hope is that they allow for a more even spread of races without requiring longer intervals between races, and potentially fewer clashes or delays. However, we’ll be taking in feedback from all parties before deciding on whether to make the trial permanent.”

HRI Director of Racing Jason Morris added, “All stakeholders in Ireland have been consulted, including HRI’s betting committee and programmes committee, and have agreed to a trial of non-standard race times in February. We are grateful to the Association of Irish Racecourses for their support and have accepted their request that the opening race time for all Irish meetings should continue to be scheduled as a standard time for promotional purposes.

“Irish race times are coordinated through SIS and involve close co-operation with Racing TV and we will collectively review the effectiveness of the trial working alongside our colleagues in the BHA.”

A full draft of race times for the proposed trial will be presented in due course.

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