RACEHORSE trainers are unhappy that the new series of academy hurdle races are effectively replacing other hurdle races.

Introduced this autumn, academy hurdles are confined to three-year-olds who have never raced on the flat. The four staged so far have all produced good fields and impressive winners but the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association [IRTA] claims that, in each case, it was impossible to divide another over-subscribed race on the card due to the academy hurdle race being part of the programme.

Arthur Moore contacted The Irish Field to say: “Whatever the pros and cons of academy hurdles it is very poor planning that the connections of 19 four-year-olds are deprived of the opportunity of running their horses in the maiden hurdle at Navan on Saturday due to an academy hurdle preventing a divide. The next four-year-old hurdle over two miles is not scheduled until after Christmas.”

Last January, Moore had a letter published in the Racing Post on the subject of academy hurdles in which he said: “I hope these races will not be run at the expense of an existing contest and are staged as a ninth race on the card.”

Feidhlim Cunningham, chief executive of the IRTA, backed Moore’s view. He said: “While the academy hurdles have been strongly supported from the outset and provided many trainers with new stock, their programming has created a significant pinch point in the lead up to the busy Christmas period.

“We were assured that the academy hurdles would not be run at the expense of existing races, but the decision to stage these as [part of] eight-race cards has removed the possibility of races dividing.

“From the four academy hurdles run so far, we have been unable to divide races on each card. A 0-100 hurdle in Fairyhouse with 64 entries, a 0-100 hurdle in Punchestown with 56 entries and now a four-year-old maiden hurdle in Navan this Saturday with 54 entries. As a result, our association has received a number of calls from frustrated trainers who are struggling to find opportunities for their horses to run.

“We requested an additional meeting on Thursday December 11th to help ease the pressure and cater for these horses, owners and trainers. That was unfortunately refused by HRI due to time constraints and staffing groups.

“One of the elements of our feedback, which was dismissed prior to the introduction of this series, was that there were too many academy races in a short period. There are seven races in total, with six taking place within eight weeks which could only lead to a thinning out of entries.

“That is best illustrated at Navan this Saturday with just 12 entries and 10 declared. In the overall scheme of things, these are programming issues that should be easy to resolve, once they are acknowledged.

“We hope HRI will adapt a more collaborative approach when reviewing and planning for these races next season so that the issues we previously forecasted - including the race conditions - can be properly addressed. We all want to ensure its success going forward.”

Asked to comment, HRI’s director of racing Jonathan Mullin said: “In relation to the four-year-old maiden hurdle at Navan, it has been run since 2018, and 2024 was the first time it divided.

“Cork’s meeting on November 24th last year, which also had a four-year-old maiden hurdle scheduled, was cancelled, and although subsequently rescheduled to December 13th, this cancelled race may have impacted the Navan entry in 2024.

“It should be noted that that there are four, four-year-old maiden hurdles to be run before the end of the year, two of which are over two miles. The four-year-old maiden hurdles division has had strong entries/runners in November and December this year which is very encouraging, and the programme will be reviewed for next season, as is the case for all race categories.”