Talking Horses: Sunday bonanza may not prove the answer to racing crisis

The air was thick with good intentions when the sport’s movers and shakers emerged from two days of what looked suspiciously like crisis talks in central London last week. Specifics, on the other hand, were in very short supply.

“Shared acceptance of the challenges”, “serious and radical changes” and “agreement of areas of focus for a strategy” were among the phrases in a joint statement issued by those in attendance, which ensured that most corporate-speak bingo cards were full well before halfway. And when a few snippets of detail did emerge on Sunday, these seemed not so much radical as strangely familiar.

In part, that is because Peter Savill, a former chairman of the British Horseracing Board – which was itself replaced by the British Horseracing Authority as long ago as 2007 – has emerged as a prime mover behind the latest plans to unlock a better future for the sport. But as he explained on the flagship Luck On Sundayshowon Racing TV, a stronger programme on Sundays, with terrestrial coverage, is seen as one idea which could bring a significant boost in income.

“The expansion of terrestrial televised racing is the big opportunity,” Savill said. “When racing is on television, the betting turnover can be as much as four times what it is when it’s not on terrestrial television.

“Sundays are a big opportunity. They’ve done the Sunday Series, which is six Sundays, and we’d like to see that expand to 20 or even more if possible. Ireland, France and other countries race on Sundays, that’s when people can go racing, and we haven’t taken advantage of that. Sunday has been ‘bouncy castle day’ so far.”

This would, admittedly, be a radical initiative, but the idea itself is hardly new. In fact, complaints that Sunday is being