MID SEASON UPDATE FOR OWNERS AND KEEPERS, FROM PETER WRIGHT OF THE PPA

Good Afternoon,

Fingers crossed but we look as if we might have our first full season for three years. Covid is still with us and can be a threat (one fixture lost 6 officials overnight a couple of weeks back) but I have every hope that the worst is behind us. Of course, this brings other challenges as we reach the busy part of the season in terms of fixtures. Nevertheless, I am delighted to report that the first half of our season went very well with runners spread out across the fixtures and most races being competitive (witnessed by very few odds-on favourites worse than 2-1 on). Evidence seems to indicate that most Owners and Keepers have got to grips with the Conditions races, and the penalties from winning are beginning to tell ensuring others have a chance. These penalties will only increase over the next two seasons so eventually things will even out and remember a horse can only win 3 Conditions races in any one season (excluding the Finals). At the top end, Dubai Quest did us proud in the Foxhunter, and we have several live chances for Aintree tomorrow (picking a winner as at p2ps is very difficult). I expect you have all noted that we have several mares at the very top of our lists – let’s hope we can keep them in Britain.

However, whilst our holistic changes appear to be working, giving more and more opportunities for Owners to find races for all types of horses, we are not resting on our laurels, and have brought back the annual discussion paper which was stopped due to Covid. This can be found here
– please do read and come back with your thoughts.

Believe it or not we are over two thirds of the way through the season in terms of weeks. We are of course aware of the problems re horse numbers compared with number of fixtures, and I realise that the last three weekends came as a shock to many. Whilst the fixture list has to be finalised in the summer, we cannot know where we will be re horses (and still don’t if truth be told). Furthermore, changes are not uniform across the country from year to year. Some areas have stood up better than expected whilst others have not. However, we actually had more runners in the last two weekends in March than any other in this season. Furthermore, the racing was actually quite competitive. This is not to say that we are complacent, and we are working on ways forward, but it is not quite as simple as it may seem. For example, regions have to remain quorate in terms of fixture lists or they go into a death spiral as happened west of Pennines a few years back – no fixtures and less than 20 horses left in training now. For those of you who have wondered about early fixtures and numbers of runners, note that many of these fixtures came out of the congested period following the festival.

We also have 9 finals for series this year with 3 on courses under rules and 6 at point to points. There is at least one each week from Easter until end May. Details can be found here

Finally, I am delighted to report that I have found a replacement for Shelley, who is now taking on all the process work in the office. Karen Driver has a strong background in running busy offices and will be a huge asset to us all in coming years. However, she has very limited knowledge of pointing so is having to learn fast. Please do bear with her if you have a complex issue that needs solving.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts as I travel the country, being in most parts in the coming 5 weeks  Do come up and give your thoughts, hopefully in blazing sunshine.

Onwards and upwards

aye

Peter Wright