Ruth Quinn: hopes the races will increase opportunities for fillies and mares

  PICTURE: Dan Abraham  

THE BHA has added three new Listed races for mares to the 2013/14 Jumps black type programme, following positive indications from British and Irish sales houses regarding the sales prices of fillies.

The new races include a 2m5f mares’ hurdle race at Warwick in February and two mares’ bumpers at Cheltenham in November and Huntingdon on Boxing Day. All three races are valued at £20,000.

The BHA claim the uplift in the value of fillies and mares has been achieved in part thanks to a new series of seven Listed novices’ and juvenile hurdle races which were introduced for the 2012/13 season.

The initiative was launched by the BHA as part of an ongoing programme to increase opportunities for fillies and mares of all abilities in the race programme.

Ruth Quinn, director of racing for the BHA, said: “Against the backdrop of a horse population that has been contracting in the last five years, there is an ever greater incentive for us to aim to create a system that encourages quality fillies and mares to have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability on the racecourse before going to the paddocks.”

Quinn added: “This will clearly be an evolving process and it will take a number of years before we see lasting results, but the introduction of a programme of black type fillies’ and mares’ hurdle races and bumpers does appear to be providing immediate benefits.

“Such measures, after just one season, seem to be altering buyers’ behaviour and increasing the average sales price of fillies.”

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