The HBF conducted a survey from the 25th February to the 31st March 2020 relating to racing fixtures to assist discussions that will take place during 2020 on the fixture list for 2021.
The survey asked those who bet on horseracing what they felt about the current level of fixtures and what improvements could be made to the fixture list in the future. 654 people responded to the survey.
The survey consisted of responses from those who regularly bet on racing, 43% said they bet every day and 43% bet once or twice a week. The remaining 14% bet less often.
Overall, 71% of those who responded felt there was too many fixtures, 25% felt the number was about right and 4% fell there were too few. The survey also provided space for free text comments, one summed up many of the responses.
“Just hard to keep track of races (especially flat in the summer) and therefore I’m inclined to bet less”.
The survey analysed the days when people wanted more or less racing split up by afternoon and evening racing. On Monday-Friday there was a slight majority (279) for the same amount of afternoon racing against those that wanted less (238), evening racing had similar responses but in this case the majority was for those that felt there should be less (256) against the same (201). On Saturdays the survey split the question up between winter and summer. In winter those surveyed indicated a desire for the status quo with same afternoon (337) and same evening (249) being the most popular answers. In summer however there was a clear indication for less afternoon racing (357) whereas the current amount of evening racing was felt to be about right (241). There was significantly different response for the question related to Sundays. Here there was a majority (320) for the same amount of Sunday racing however 231 people would like to see more racing take place on a Sunday, this point was also echoed in other questions later in the survey.
One of the comments in the survey sums up this view “I believe that on balance there is the right number of races. I do think there is more scope for more Sunday racing by redistributing a weekday fixture to a Sunday. The races need to be reflective of the horse population. We need more class 4,5,6 northern races, rather than Class 3s with 3/4 runners”.
In terms of the actual numbers of fixtures the survey asked if respondents would like to see an increase or decrease in fixtures by either 25, 50 or 100. 68% of respondents wanted to see a decrease of 100 fixtures. There was emphatic opposition to any increase in fixtures, 48% strongly opposed to an increase of 25, 58% strongly opposed to an increase of 50 and 66% strongly opposed to an increase in 100 fixtures.
With regards to the type of racing, the majority response (243) was for flat turf racing to have fewer fixtures, there was a substantial majority (258) for a lot less AW racing and again a majority (200) wanted to see a lot less NH racing in the summer.
Jump racing in the winter showed the majority of respondents wishing for a retention of the current number of fixtures. Another comment with regards jump racing was “On the whole the correct amount. But there is too many in April/May (over jumps), which lead to 2-4 runner fields. The courses like them (as they get more footfall than a Tuesday afternoon in January (when it’s cold), but for the actual racing fan, the ones who go to actually watch racing, and bet, it leads to very uncompetitive races”.
There was significant divergence of responses to the question relating to having days with no racing. There was support for a break once a week (308) although a lot of opposition too (272). Respondents were also given the opportunity to provide a free text answer, the specific answers ranged from “take Mondays and Wednesdays off every week (bar festivals)” to “have just 1 or 2 blank days a year”. Although plenty suggested they would be happy with a day off every week, most people would prefer the off days to be less frequent, ranging from 1 day off a month to 2 or 3 a year. Monday appeared to be the down day of choice but over 20 people suggested Sunday. The main aspect to reflect on was that many respondents stated that it would be good to give those working in the industry (trainers, jockeys, stable lads, lasses etc.) a day off from racing. There was also a concern that any fixtures lost from the down days would be squeezed into the remaining days and there would not be an actual reduction in fixtures.
The main argument against having down days was that people will simply bet on racing from other jurisdictions or on other sports and the Levy would lose out. A counter argument is that those betting on the sport who want a day off then should take one, no reason why the sport shouldn’t continue. Other comments include;
“I don’t see what harm it would do except to racecourses income. There isn’t football every day, there isn’t golf every day, there isn’t NFL every day, there isn’t rugby every day. Racing is becoming like betting on those sports – wait for the good stuff. Give the staff, jockeys, trainers etc a day off once a while, it can’t hurt”.
“The Christmas break works well, gives everyone a break without having to miss some racing. A few more days throughout the year should be considered. This would also provide an opportunity to reschedule fixtures if there had already been blank days as a result of periods of bad weather”.
“Fine; increases quality and competitiveness while giving greater space and attention to renaming fixtures. The list must be underpinned by quality as far as possible”.
The survey also discussed people’s approach to betting on races with 5 or more runners and 8 or more runners, the number of runners do not appear to put off punters betting on them. Similarly races with an odds-on favourite do not appear to put bettors off. Interestingly those surveyed who bet less often were keener to bet in races where the favourite was 4/1 or more. Of those surveyed 363 said they would not be interested in attending a race meeting that had fewer than 30 runners.
The uncompetitive nature of NH racing was highlighted in the comments for example “National Hunt racing in particular does seem to want to sell itself as uncompetitive to fill cards”.
On the questions relating to racing on Saturday, bettors felt they had insufficient time to study the form. These comments summed this up;
“I find I bet more and enjoy it with time to think and reflect between races, the pundits get time to speak more and each race feels like more of an event. Proper study is impossible on days with 6+ meetings”.
“For any serious form analysts, it is almost impossible to keep track of things. On a busy Saturday you are struggling to complete your studies before the first race is off. I realise bookmakers want as much racing as possible, bigger turnover, more profit and as the levy also benefits there is little likelihood of a reduction”.
431 respondents felt that the good quality races were too close together and 419 agreed that some fixtures should be moved to Sunday. There was also support for starting racing earlier on Saturday. As noted previously there was strong support (363) for less racing on Saturdays.
This comment summed up many feelings on this topic “The horse racing fixtures are a complete joke! Too many meetings on a Saturday and poor meetings on Monday & Tuesdays. Racing should be everyday but be balanced out. Also start times of meetings is laughable. In Feb and racing isn’t starting until 2pm. Get race meetings starting at 12noon all year round and spread throughout the day so more people can access it throughout the day”.
A number of ideas were posed to test if they were viable suggestions. The concept of having a day’s racing spread across both Sky Sports and Racing TV showed that 335 believed this to be a very good or good idea, however there were 221 who had no opinion. 498 stated that they wished to see a good geographic spread of fixtures across the country, those that bet more infrequently showed greater enthusiasm for this. Of the other ideas there was little support for 2 AW winter evening fixtures, although those that bet everyday did want to see additional meetings. As shown earlier there is some support for regular lunchtime fixtures.
This comment showed that while there was interest in earlier starts consideration for breaks during the day “Fixtures are in the wrong place and time, 1: a break between afternoon and evening racing during the summer, this would allow betting shop staff to have a break 2: during the winter have blank evening but on the back of that there are 2 fixtures on certain nights like tues wed thur etc “.
Notably the idea of having Saturday becoming a fifth day of the Cheltenham festival was not supported, 252 thought is an awful idea and 111 a bad idea.
Summary
A high level of interest was generated from those who regularly bet which showed that 71% of those surveyed wished to see the number of fixtures reduced. Those highlighted as least popular were AW fixtures, Saturday afternoon fixtures on the flat and summer NH racing.
There was considerable interest in starting racing earlier especially on Saturdays when often all the good quality races are scheduled close together and having more fixtures on Sunday (perhaps transferring some from Saturdays).
The topic of down days needs greater exploration, it appears there is some support for occasional days when no racing takes place, however the frequency of blank days needs further work.
Overall there was good engagement with those who bet on horseracing and as usual plenty of inciteful comments on how improvements could be introduced.