Donn McClean

STRANGE that there are only 16 declarations for this afternoon’s Betfair Hurdle. This used to be a two-mile cavalry charge, the Charge of the Light Brigade (sponsored by Schweppes). Even in recent times, only once in the last decade have there been fewer than 20 runners in the race, and that was in 2011, when the race was rescheduled and the winner’s prize money reduced to a paltry 34 grand.