A blueprint for the future of Jump Racing has reached another development stage with the approval by the BHB Board of the recommendations contained in the Jump Racing Review.

The industry-wide working party which conducted the Review, chaired by BHB Director Nigel Clark, was formed following the publication by RHT in November 2003 of an initial working document.

Full details of the initiatives to be implemented from the Jump Racing Review will be announced publicly as soon as more progress has been made on a number of aspects of it. The BHB Board has now agreed to set up an Implementation Group of interested parties, which Nigel Clark will chair.

Key recommendations include:

* The division of the year-round Jump racing programme into distinct Winter and Summer seasons
* A refinement of the Jump Pattern to maintain its prestige and competitive nature
* The creation of a valuable “Order of Merit”, ranking the leading performers over a season in top Pattern races
* A clearly defined Jump Fixture Matrix, providing a more consistent spread of fixtures
* Greater promotion of Jump racing to raise its profile throughout the year
* Initiatives to see horses race more often
* The introduction of schooling trials for inexperienced horses

BHB Chief Executive Greg Nichols said today:

“The Board is absolutely committed to National Hunt racing. The forward-looking Jump Racing Review will add to the excellent work that the sport is currently carrying out.

“Jumping’s future was secured by our convincing the Office of Fair Trading that it needed to be regarded as a separate branch of the sport, and not have to face head-on competition for fixture slots from Flat All Weather racing.

“This basis can be built on by implementing the many initiatives contained in the Review. Now that BHB has given its approval to the recommendations, we will look to announce more details once further work has been carried out, overseen by Nigel Clark’s small group.”