The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) today announced the launch of a new initiative which provides trainers with an opportunity to influence the make up of the race programme in a new, more dynamic way. The Interactive Race Planning trial will allow trainers to directly influence the shape of the race programme and has the support of both the racing and betting industries. The first such race will be held at Lingfield Park on Wednesday 4th April 2012.

Funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board, representatives from across the sport – including the BHA, racecourses and horsemen – have put in place a new system which will enable trainers to indicate online, specific races that they wish to see programmed in the short-term, providing opportunities for horses that are ready to run but currently have no suitable races.

The Levy Board will be funding the trial, using part of the new £500,000 “Racing and Betting Special Incentive Fund”. The key aims of this fund are to provide support through the year for additional races and fixtures or incentives aimed at higher quality horses and improving levy generation.

The trial will be monitored and adapted as appropriate across the remainder of 2012 before full evaluation of its success can be made. That success will be measured on how well this is used by trainers, but also the field sizes and betting performance of the new races.

Ruth Quinn, Director of Racing for the British Horseracing Authority, said:

“The concept of Interactive Race Planning is something that we have been keen to trial for some time. We believe that there is a role for it and very much hope trainers will take advantage of the opportunity. The trial will run until the end of the year and hopefully it will become an accepted part of race programming.

“Getting the idea off the ground has taken time. Levy Board funding has obviously been enormously helpful, and the BHA, racecourses and the Horsemen’s Group have all worked together to get behind the initiative, thereby enabling the concept to become reality.”

How it works
Using the online feedback from trainers, the BHA will be able to programme a particular race at certain fixtures. This new system, which has its first race on 4th April at Lingfield Park, is an important first step to creating a more dynamic and flexible race programme which can respond better to the requirements of the horse population.

• 23 blank races have been allocated between April and June (Programme Book 2)
• There are 16 Flat and & 7 Jump opportunities (see below)
• Based on online feedback from trainers, the BHA will programme a new race roughly 9 or 10 days in advance with normal entry and declaration deadlines
• The online system will go live during week commencing Monday 19^th March
• Moving forward, a similar number of races will be planned for the third and fourth quarters of 2012, when all racecourses will have the chance to take part. In the first instance, Jockey Club Racecourses and Arena Leisure have made the opportunities available.

How do trainers state their requests?
Trainers will post their requests on an online forum, found on the BHA Racing Administration site. Trainers should use the forum to highlight horses which are ready to run but for which they genuinely cannot find an opportunity. They will be expected to provide the name of the horse, or horses, to back up their request for a particular race, but the horse’s name will not be visible to other users. Trainers agreeing with a request made by another trainer are encouraged to respond to the request, so that BHA’s Racing Department can build up a profile of the type and number of horses that might expect to be attracted to run, if such a race were to be programmed.

What type of race will be programmed?
The type of race will be dictated by the feedback from trainers. Key considerations will include:

• The fact that other suitable races do not fall in the same period
• The quality of the race
• Geography
• Type of race
• Sufficient number of runners

The BHA Racing Department will have discretion to choose the most suitable race for each opportunity.

Where will the race appear?
The race will appear in the Fixtures and Races section as soon as it is available and trainers will be alerted to it via the text service and the scrolling banner on the Racing Admin homepage. As explained earlier, this will occur roughly 9 to 10 days prior to the race taking place.

What are the dates and racecourses?