BHA cut 24 meetings The British Horseracing Authority have unveiled the 2012 fixture list with 24 fewer meetings than this year. The total number of meetings is 1,456 (from 1,480), made up of 876 Flat cards and 580 Jump fixtures. Significant changes for 2012 include a new National Hunt meeting at Kempton on the Saturday following the Cheltenham Festival (17th March). The Flat season will start at Doncaster on Saturday 31st March with no Flat Turf fixtures staged before that date. Changes to the Spring Bank Holiday in 2012, which will take place in the first week of June rather than the final week of May as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, mean that the Investec Derby Meeting will take place on the Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd June). Ascot's meeting including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, sponsored by Betfair, will take place one week earlier than normal so that it avoids clashing with the Olympics and can therefore be shown on BBC. This has been achieved by Ascot swapping a number of fixture dates with Newbury and, as a result, Newbury's Weatherbys Super Sprint meeting will replace Ascot's Betfred Summer Mile meeting on the same afternoon as the Darley July Cup at Newmarket and the John Smith's Cup at York. Newton Abbot and Worcester have agreed to move fixtures out of early August to create a ten-day Summer Jumping break between Monday 6th and Wednesday 15th August inclusive. There will also be ten days without a Jump meeting in September (from Thursday 13th to Saturday 22nd inclusive).
