THE declaration of reserves for races has been de rigeur in Ireland for some time, but something which has only recently become known in the UK, and then only for major races, with the Grand National being the first race to feature reserves at the declaration stage. Races eligible for reserves are Group 1 flat races, heritage handicaps and Grade 3 jump handicaps with 48 hour declarations.

Racecourses need to apply to the BHA’s Racing Department in order to have reserves included for eligible races, and are also able to apply to the Racing Department to discuss the option of reserves to races of other classifications. Originally, the deadlines for reserves to be brought into such races was 9.30am on the day before the race, but the upshot of that was that very few horses got the opportunity to run with the chances of a declared runner being scratched before that time are fairly slim.

In the 2015 Grand National, Carlito Brigante, trained at that time by Karen McLintock, was declared a non-runner on the morning before, but that decision was not made until 11am on the Friday, and too late for a reserve to be called up. Having ‘only’ 39 runners in the Aintree showpiece was deemed enough of a disaster for the BHA to make the decision to push back the deadline to 1pm, and it has remained that way since, at least until the next Grand National when we lose a runner at lunchtime, presumably.

The reason that the cut-off point is kept as early as possible is due to industry feedback, and that primarily means bookmaker feedback, with the ability to find a system of including reserves in betting seeming to be an obstacle too tricky to surmount, and a trial of day-of-race reserves was not deemed to be successful when initially brought in. Of course, aficionados of British racing will be aware that the concept of day-of-race reserves is not entirely dead, with the Shergar Cup unable to function properly without the designated number of team runners, and the industry copes perfectly well with the system when it is forced to.

As trainer Hugo Palmer pointed out in a blog last week, another jurisdiction which copes remarkably well with day-of-race reserves is Australia, where the handler’s Mask of Time, listed as first emergency, was a late inclusion to the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, finishing a fine fourth to earn connections a respectable payday. Palmer bemoaned the fact that in the UK, he would not have got a run with Mask of Time due to the timing of the non-runner, while he was guaranteed a run at Caulfield as he was able to declare the horse for two different races on the high-quality card without incurring a penalty.

The Newmarket handler made the point that the reason for strict rules in his homeland is that a later deadline would cause chaos in betting markets, whereas the betting on last week’s Caulfield card would have dwarfed that at Newmarket the same day, so if Australian bettors aren’t flummoxed by the system, why should they be at home? Part of the reason is that there hasn’t always been a standard way of dealing with races in which reserves are allowed, with some bookmakers pricing up the entire field, and some ignoring the reserves for betting purposes, and settling two separate markets in the event that a reserve should win. The latter approach is utterly wrong-headed and brings problems on itself.

It’s true that by including reserves for betting purposes and pricing the entire field, there is a guarantee of non-runners, but punters are well used to the fact that many declared runners don’t face the starter for a variety of reasons. It makes much more sense for the sport’s participants if reserves are able to take their place at a later time than is now allowed just to ensure that oversubscribed races are not allowed to go short, often with repercussions regarding place terms, which is a bigger bugbear for punters than the possibility of Rule 4 deductions. The latter are a pain for backers and layers alike, but a price worth paying surely.