At present all runners in big-field races congregate in the Start Area (quite close to the Starting Gate) There the Starting Team organise the horses into “close order” and send them off to walk in unspecified directions and for an unspecified period, until Start Time is imminent.

• This I am guessing is the process which was invented by ex-Raceday Regulator Jamie Stier twenty years ago in an attempt to ensure that races start on time. It didn’t work then, and it will never work. What it produced was the steady flow of False Starts which continues to the present day.

This process (“close order”, “on the move” and “uncertain timing”) was designed by Mother Nature to send horses mad, and it works every time. Stier was asked to think again, but he chose not to.

Since he arrived on the scene Mr Dunshea has been informed by me on a number of occasions (by email) about the need for a new initiative, but he too has done nothing. Twenty years of rubbish that should have been sorted years ago is the reason for today’s situation.

Cheltenham 2025 (11th – 14th March) was the worst example of incorrect starting, disgraceful starting and starting with no consideration for the horses involved. Every big-field race started with a disaster.

Now here’s a funny thing. The following week, about the 19th of March, a BHA Press Release appeared and announced that improving the timing of races was vital. One at a time, two of the BHA’s Top Brass congratulated the BHA team for its efforts in that area. No mention of Cheltenham or False Starts. It was only yesterday that I noticed the date on the photocopy of the Press Release – 10th February 2025. A month before the disaster I describe above. That confused me, it really did. For a moment the phrase “sharp practice” occurred to me.

Best wishes, Donec

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