Horseracing goes ahead despite reduced fields
The first day of the planned horseracing boycott has seen no races cancelled at Fontwell or Lingfield, although fields are far smaller than usual.
Arena Racing Company (ARC) has reduced prize money as a direct result of the fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) stake reduction, which has seen trainers choose to boycott certain ARC meetings.
All six races are planned to go ahead at Lingfield, despite there only being sixteen horses across the card. The 14:30, 16:30 and 17:00 all feature just two horses.
Fontwell has also managed to keep all six races on, with the vast majority of races having five or six runners compete. The 15:40 is the only race at Fontwell which will be a two-runner affair.
Both Fontwell and Lingfield’s tracks are owned by ARC and the boycott is set to continue over the next two days.
Earlier this week, Pontefract announced its prize money has been cut by 11% in 2019, due to reduced maximum stakes on FOBTs, which has had an impact on the horseracing industry and forced betting shops to close around the UK.
Nico de Boinville, a leading jockey, tweeted his support for the boycott but wanted to respect one of his main employees.
He said: “I fully support the current ARC boycott. However, I feel obliged to ride for one of my main stables tomorrow. I will be donating my riding fee to the Injured Jockeys Fund.”
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