CHELTENHAM’S November meeting is one of the high points of the jumps season in Britain, and it served up some excellent racing again last weekend, but the weekend just gone reminded us that the lessons which were meant to have been learned through previous administrative failings are not being heeded, and that needs to change.

Yet again, a photo finish was almost certainly called incorrectly in the listed mares’ bumper at Cheltenham’s fixture, and leading trainer Alan King called the ground at jump racing’s premier venue “diabolical”.

I’ve touched on the photo-finish incident in my review, and it beggars belief that this was a repeat of an identical incident in 2016 when My Khaleesi and Irish Roe were also adjudged to have shared the spoils after poor light made it impossible for the judge to ascertain the placing accurately.

We are told that the timing of the late races will be reviewed, but the only positive is that four sets of connections have achieved listed success rather than two, which keeps the dark muttering to a minimum. The truth is that non operational photo-finish procedure is all too familiar on British courses, and for such an incident happens once in a blue moon is unfortunate. To happen twice in the same race in four years – to paraphrase Oscar Wilde – looks like carelessness.

Criticism of Cheltenham’s ground was made publicly by Alan King, but he reported agreement from both Nicky Henderson and Dan Skelton on the issue, and he is in no doubt about the cause. I must say I tend to agree with King that Cheltenham’s insistence on racing on easy ground at the October meeting is ruining their real showcase fixture of the autumn.

In order to ensure the ground is easy enough to attract both quality and quantity in October, a huge amount of water needs to be thrown on the track from summer onwards. As a result, it takes only a moderate amount of rain during the November meeting to turn perfect racing ground into a swamp.

Horses floundering

King would point to the number of horses who failed to handle conditions last weekend as a damning indictment of the track’s watering policy, and it’s not simply that the ground is very soft, but he also called it “false and loose” and that is why he feels so many horses floundered on it.

His solution is brutal or simple: “Either let that (the October meeting) go ahead on good-to-firm ground for summer horses or don’t have it. What they’re doing at the moment is ruining this meeting.”

Strong words, but in my view he lands them square on the target.