HORSE Racing Ireland is considering a number of measures to improve the racing programme for National Hunt fillies.

The topic was discussed at length during this week’s ITBA National Hunt Seminar in Tattersalls Ireland and HRI’s director of racing Jason Morris came away with plenty of food for thought.

Increased weight allowances for fillies racing against males and the creation of more races confined to fillies has largely failed to entice buyers to bid on fillies. Prices for National Hunt fillies at recent sales have been poor, prompting some stallion farms to offer concessions to breeders when a covering produces a filly foal.

HRI has already committed to contributing €100,000 towards the ITBA NH Fillies Scheme this year and is in discussions with the ITBA on how to further encourage racemare ownership.

Morris said: “We will be looking at introducing a greater number of mares’ bumpers and hurdles for four-year-olds to encourage their earlier participation [in racing]. We will also be looking at creating some higher value mares’ handicaps, especially over hurdles.”

In 2006 mares represented 31% of horses in training. That figure fell to 28% last year despite recent initiatives but the figures may be misleading. “The 28% figure has remained the same since 2011,” Morris said, “and both the number of individual mares winning and the total wins by mares has gone up.” He added that 18% of mares who raced in 2015 won a race, compared to 11% in 2006, “so the greater success rate will hopefully encourage others to put mares into training.”

Blacktype races for mares over jumps have often drawn small fields – just four went to post for the listed chase at Naas last Sunday – but the authorities are not against adding more such opportunities. “We will review the blacktype programme, as we do each year, to identify any suitable additional mares’ opportunities, with a desire for more listed mares’ bumpers noted,” Morris said. “We added a second one this season with a new €40,000 listed race at the Punchestown Festival.”

However, it is unlikely that Irish racing will copy Britain by introducing ‘junior bumpers’ for three-year-olds of either sex. Morris commented: “I think everyone [at the seminar] recognised that there would have to be a sea-change in thinking for such a scheme to make sense for fillies in particular.

“I did say that I felt there was a case for more four-year-old fillies’ races, particularly in the second half of the year. We introduced a first four-year-old fillies’ bumper at Fairyhouse last December and it was a competitive contest, so we will likely increase their number this year.”

The number of jumps races in Ireland confined to mares has risen from 94 to 145 in the past 10 years, a 54% increase. This equates to 10.3% of the entire National Hunt programme, which compares favourably with Britain (8.3%) and is only marginally lower than in France (11.2%).

Shane O’Dwyer, general manager of the ITBA, said: “There is no doubt that the recent seminar highlighted a number of interesting topics for the National Hunt sector and it is important that the industry adopt a unified approach to investigate suggested improvements for the sector, and the filly in particular.

“The ITBA NH committee is scheduled to meet soon to discuss how we can bring this positivity to the next level. Areas such as a world series for National Hunt racing, an early programme for fillies, extension of the ITBA Bonus Scheme to include handicappers, less emphasis of stores at sales, and increased prize money for fillies’ races, will head the topics to be discussed.”

See seminar report on pages A14-15