The Grand National’s move to an early-evening time slot should not be seen as the start of a general trend affecting major races, according to the sport’s insiders. While the famous Aintree race will be an hour later than previously at 5.15pm from next year, the indications are that this was a decision made because of the particular circumstances of a unique contest and need not be repeated elsewhere.
The Derby’s start time has been the subject of discussion at regular intervals in recent years and it was delayed by half an hour to 4.30pm this year in the hope of propping up flagging viewing figures for the race on Channel 4. In the event, the TV audience fell for the third year in a row anyway.
Asked if there were any plans for a still later starting time for the Derby in 2016, Rupert Trevelyan, the Jockey Club’s regional director for the area, said: “No discussions have taken place”. Trevelyan has previously said that the Queen, who regularly attends, would be consulted before any change to the start time. Unconfirmed speculation has suggested her advisers prefer at least two races to be run after the Derby, so that she can make her exit from Epsom before most of the crowd begins to leave.
While the Derby may, like the National, be a special case, the general belief is that running major races in late afternoon or early evening would increase the potential TV audience and might, in the case of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, for example, make a significant difference. But background briefing from the Jockey Club, which runs Aintree, Cheltenham, Newmarket and Epsom among other major tracks, suggested there were no such plans in place.
“Our door is always open to consider possibilities but we would need a real and valid reason to change,” said one official. “The Grand National is a race apart, totally unique and it doesn’t follow that the same reasoning applies to other races, especially midweek races.”
Bookmakers gave a cautious welcome to the delayed start time in the expectation that it will allow once-a-year punters more time to get their bets on. More than one firm also noted that football punters may be prepared to play up any winnings from the 3pm games, which will have finished by then.
“We’ve long argued that the most iconic races deserve a real chance of building to a climax on the biggest days of the year,” said David Williams of Ladbrokes. “Hats off to the team who are prepared to try new things to build on a great race.”
Some reservation was expressed by Coral’s head of racing, James Knight, who said: “Generally, we find that peak time for betting turnover is 3pm to 4pm on a normal Saturday afternoon. When races like the Wokingham and Hunt Cup were pushed back to 5pm, we saw a decline of about 20% on turnover for those races.
“The reason I think the National will be different is that the vast majority of bets are not from regular racing punters who bet in betting shops. For 99% of Grand National punters, this will just mean an extra hour for them to get their ‘once a year’ bets on, so we are positive about the move from this perspective.”
The latest Grand National winner, Many Clouds, was reported in good form before his return to Aintree on Saturday, when he will try to be the first National winner for more than a decade to win another race thereafter. His trainer, Oliver Sherwood, said that in retrospect the horse had been badly in need of the run when well beaten last month.
“It was horrible ground at Wetherby and we were just caught out,” Sherwood said. “And look what the winner, Cue Card, has done since. Many Clouds is pretty fit now and the horses are running well, they’ve been in good form over the last couple of weeks. He’s ready to rock and roll.”
Many Clouds is entered for a race over the Mildmay fences rather than the green National obstacles and his opponents could include Don Poli, the Willie Mullins-trained winner of the RSA Chase at the last Cheltenham Festival.
Saphir Du Rheu, a well-beaten fifth when favourite for the Hennessy Gold Cup on Saturday, will be returned to hurdles for the bulk of this season. His trainer, Paul Nicholls, said the horse was only six and this season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup would come too soon in his development.
“It is important to say I still think Saphir Du Rheu will be a serious chaser in time and I am not ruling out a return to fences for him at Aintree in April,” Nicholls said. “And when he comes back into training next autumn, he will be aimed once more at the Hennessy Gold Cup before heading for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2017.”
