UK fixture increase for next year

The British Horseracing Board have announced an increase of 48 fixtures for the 2003 racing season.

The fixture list, published today, shows a total of 1,270 fixtures scheduled for 2003, an increase of 48 on the number for 2002.

The BHB have planned an extra 10 Sunday meetings spread over another five days in 2003, with a total of 70 fixtures over 24 Sundays, but these meetings have been placed so as to allow breaks in the calendar to alleviate pressure on training yards and stable staff.

An increase in evening fixtures has also been announced with 175 fixtures scheduled for 85 evenings, as opposed to 163 on 77 days this season. This total included seven Saturday evening fixtures in the summer period and for the first time, racing every Thursday evening between mid-May and mid-August.

The BHB also announced the addition of a third fixture on those Monday and Tuesday afternoon's in the autumn and winter when there were only two meetings in 2002.

Four Saturday afternoons in the autumn and winter will also benefit from a fifth fixture, all of which have been awarded to racecourses in the North in recognition of the extra demand during this period.

As well as the changes to the numbers and timing of fixtures there are also some alterations to the programmes of some of the more established meetings.

The Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup Meeting at Newbury held on Friday and Saturday in 2002 will be on Saturday and Sunday in 2003, while the Becher Chase Meeting at Aintree will switch from a one day meeting on the Sunday to a two-day meeting over Saturday and Sunday.

Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Meeting will be reduced to three days from four while a new two-day Festival at Perth in July will be created.

A continuous run of eight All Weather Track fixtures on Saturday's from the end of November 2002 to the start of March 2003 is another major change. This has been introduced to safeguard betting turnover in the winter months, with extra races to be added to the front of existing cards.

BHB Racing Director Trevor Beaumont said: 'BHB is pleased to publish a Fixture List for 2003 which brings benefits both for Racing's customers and industry participants.

'All the additional fixtures are judiciously placed and are either particularly racegoer-friendly, punter-friendly or meet the needs of the horse population and, in some cases, fulfil more than one aim.'

Northern Racing Group, who are responsible for Uttoxeter, Newcastle, Brighton, Bath, Hereford, Sedgefield, Yarmouth and in association with Chepstow, are satisfied with their allottment of fixtures.

They have a total of 174 meetings spread over the eight course, including a new Boxing Day fixture for Uttoxeter.

The track are planning to focus on maintaining the quality of the racing surface for their 21 fixtures and John Iveson is hoping for another good year.

He said: 'The new and improved look to our 2003 fixture list is most exciting. It should be well received by our racegoers and the trainers (and their horses) will appreciate the priority being given to the racing surface.'