THE BHA this week issued new measures that are intended to reduce the number of non-runners.

With 48 hour declarations in the UK, punters were becoming increasingly frustrated over the amount of non runners on racedays.

On Wednesday, August 9th there were over 100 non runners over five meetings in Britain, mostly due to unsuitable ground.

From October, an average level of non-runners will be established, and trainers who breach a threshold of 50% above that average for any given period will have their permission to self-certify non-runners removed for 12 months.

Three categories accounted for 90% of absentees after declaration time: self-certificates, vets’ certificates and going alterations.

The number of going-related non-runners will remain under scrutiny, particularly when there has been only a marginal change in the going description.

One of the key aims is to highlight a small number of repeat offenders. A league table showing which trainers are most likely to have non-runners will be published and updated regularly.

Non-runners who rely on a vet’s certificate will be prevented from running for two days.