WITH the favourite for the Galway Plate making the field at the 11th hour and the Shergar Cup taking place this weekend, the subject of reserves and the way they are utilised has come up for discussion quite a lot in recent days.

It’s certainly not ideal for any party, be they trainers, owners, bookmakers or punters, to have the final make-up of the field an unknown until the deadline for reserves to run has passed, but there is a very good reason why popular events need them, and it’s a bore we have to put up with.