Sir, - I am writing this on Saturday evening, so annoyed to discover that racing at Navan on Sunday starts at 12.30pm.

I go racing every day and I don’t mind leaving early on a winter’s morning to travel the country for an early start. But to start at 12.30pm in the height of summer is simply outrageous. It’s no wonder crowds are falling off. I realise Meath were playing in the All-Ireland Semi-Final last Sunday but there’s something massively wrong with this scheduling.

I think Irish racing has been abused since its live pictures switched to Racing TV. We seem to be taken for granted. Has Horse Racing Ireland sold us down the river for 30 pieces of silver? Have we lost all of our bargaining power so that we are just shunted from pillar to post at their behest?

As someone with a interest in several horses I doubt if I shall reinvest next year. It seems to me that owners are just part of a huge foodchain that is taken for granted, but the tide is turning rapidly and we have had enough. - Yours etc.,

Eddie McGrath

Dublin