SD Horse racing column – Tuesday 12th August 2025

The British racing calendar is starting to resemble a badly planned stag do – too many events, not enough quality, and half the participants wondering why they bothered turning up.

It’s time we took a long, hard look at some of the races that are cluttering the schedule like leftover vol-au-vents at a wedding buffet.

Plenty can be chopped

Chief among them is the Hungerford Stakes, a Group 2 seven-furlong affair at Newbury that insists on elbowing its way into August like a bloke who’s lost his invite but still turns up for the free booze.

It clashes spectacularly with the City of York Stakes, which –if the gods of racing ever get their act together – should have clear passage and plenty of runners being Britain’s first proper Group 1 over seven furlongs.

York offers nearly five times the prize money and a proper stage at the Ebor Festival, while Hungerford limps along with £62,000.

Honestly, it’s like putting a village fête next to Glastonbury and wondering why the crowd’s thinning for both.

Then there’s the Racing League, horse racing’s answer to Love Island. Flashy, divisive and full of people shouting about team colours while the rest of us just want to see a good bloody race.

It’s hoovering up horses that should be running in heritage handicaps, leaving those proud old contests looking like a Sunday league side missing half its midfield.

The League’s format is so baffling it makes the Eurovision scoring system look like GCSE maths. And while it might be good telly for the casual punter, it’s doing sod all for the competitive health of the sport.

Chipchase Stakes? Lovely name – shame it clashes with the July Cup and Golden Jubilee, which are actually important.

The July Cup is one of the crown jewels of sprinting, and yet we’ve got Chipchase lurking around like a knock-off handbag at a designer outlet.

It’s not even a proper alternative. It’s just there, siphoning off runners who should be aiming higher rather like offering a packet of crisps when someone’s ordered steak.

And don’t get me started on the Gala Stakes. It’s for horses not quite good enough for the top tier, which is fine – except it sits awkwardly in the calendar and would be far better served by pointing those runners to the Steventon Stakes two weeks later.

That race actually has a purpose, and if we stopped faffing about with Gala, we might get a proper field for once.

The Glorious Stakes? No one knows what it’s for, not even the bloke who sponsors it. I present to you the racing equivalent of a mystery meat pie – could be good, could be awful, but you’ll probably regret it either way.

It clashes with better races and adds nothing to the narrative of the season. Bin it.

Embrace the change

Now, I know what you’re thinking...."What about tradition?!". Well, bollocks to tradition if it means we’re stuck with a calendar that’s more congested than the M25 on a bank holiday.

We’ve got fewer horses, more races and a growing export problem that’s seeing our best runners bugger off to France, Ireland, and Dubai quicker than you can say “tax-free prize money".

If we want decent races to thrive, we need to stop diluting the talent pool with second-rate distractions.

So let’s be brave. Let’s scrap the Hungerford, turf out the Racing League (or shove it somewhere less where the sun don’t shine) and give the Gala, Glorious, and Chipchase Stakes a dignified send-off.

Do that, dear reader, and we might just restore a bit of bloody brilliance to British racing.