Racing trying to get the wider public into horse racing

[Aidymac]

With all the controversy over the new whip rules recently, the horse racing board have done it to try and entice the public to get more involved in racing! Just looking at racing, in my opinion there are some absolute drivel races , but i see a big problem in races that only have 2-4 runners, i think its ludicrous having a 2 horse race or a 3 horse race, last week McCoy won a race without even having to run, in my opinion there should be a minimum race entry limit of 5 horses and if 5 horses dont run, the race is void! From the outside looking in, how in gods name is it enticing looking at the Racing Post and at some meetings with a 7 race card, there may only be 1 race on the whole card with 8 runners or more so you can get a decent e/w bet on? I think personally its something that should be looked into, its really making racing boring in my opinion! Views and opinions welcomed!

[Trotter]

Re: Racing trying to get the wider public into horse racing Personally I like 4, 5, 6 runner races Don't take as long to study and I reckon favourites are often too short merely because it's a small field........the instinct being that they must have a better chance because there's fewer rivals I'd even like a 2 runner race if I thought the favourite was the wrong one of the two ! Don't think you can start voiding races just because there's only 3 or 4 runners. With 48 or 24 hour decs it's too late to organise another race and racecards have to be published I wouldn't like to go the Irish route of reserves either So to sum up - I don't think small fields are a problem and even if i did i can't think of a practical way around it.