海角大神 has today published the Fixture List for 2012.
The headline figures for the 2012 Fixture List are:
- The total number of fixtures has decreased from 1,480 to 1,456;
- 876 Flat and 580 Jump fixtures (2010: 898 and 582 respectively);
- Flat fixtures are made up of 583 Turf fixtures and 293 AWT fixtures (2010: 598 and 300 respectively);
- By session there are 1,097 afternoon fixtures, 261 evening fixtures and 98 twilight fixtures (2011: 1,111, 273 and 96 respectively);
- The HBLB has committed to an expenditure budget of 拢65.1m for 2012, 拢5m higher than 2011鈥檚 budget (拢60.1m);
- Of this extra 拢5m, 拢4.2m will be allocated towards prize money, primarily to support higher quality racing.
Major Fixture Moves
The most significant fixture moves within the 2012 Fixture List can be summarised as follows:
- On the Saturday following the Cheltenham Festival (17th March), Kempton Park will stage a new Jump fixture (with, on the same afternoon, Jump fixtures also taking place at Uttoxeter – Betfred Midlands Grand National – Newcastle and Ffos Las).
- The Flat season will commence at Doncaster on Saturday 31st March, with no Flat Turf fixtures staged before that date.
- Changes to the Spring Bank Holiday in 2012, which will take place in the first week of June rather than the final week of May as part of the Queen鈥檚 Diamond Jubilee celebrations, mean that the Investec Derby Meeting will take place on the Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd June).
- Ascot鈥檚 meeting including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, sponsored by Betfair, will take place one week earlier than normal so that it avoids clashing with the Olympics and can therefore be shown on BBC. This has been achieved by Ascot swapping a number of fixture dates with Newbury and, as a result, Newbury鈥檚 Weatherbys Super Sprint meeting will replace Ascot鈥檚 Betfred Summer Mile meeting on the same afternoon as the Darley July Cup at Newmarket and the John Smith鈥檚 Cup at York.
- Newton Abbot and Worcester have agreed to move fixtures out of early August to create a ten-day Summer Jumping break between Monday 6th and Wednesday 15th August inclusive. There will also be ten days without a Jump meeting in September (from Thursday 13th to Saturday 22nd inclusive).
- Following consultation with Scottish trainers, it was agreed that Ayr鈥檚 Flat fixture on the penultimate Saturday of the Flat season will become a Jump fixture.
Other key aspects of the 2012 Fixture List are outlined in Notes to Editors.
Ruth Quinn, Director of Racing for the British Horseracing Authority, said:
“Whilst the BHA remains concerned about the declining horse population, a rise in the number of races with small fields and recent downgrades to the race programme, the 2012 fixture list is a pragmatic outcome to a long and difficult process during which the views of the sport鈥檚 stakeholders have been taken into account.
“We will continue to work closely together to address the challenges facing British Racing, with the immediate priority being to produce a race programme that is better matched to the demands of the horse population.
“The delay in producing the fixture list will have undoubtedly inconvenienced many of the sport鈥檚 loyal followers and all of the parties involved in producing the fixture list are committed to doing everything they can to ensure that it is not repeated in the future.鈥�
