Talking Horses: why are safer hurdles not being more widely used?

The large splinter of wood from the second-last hurdle which became embedded in Buveur D’Air’s hoof during the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday probably cost him the race and may well see him ruled out for the remainder of the jumps season.

And yet, birch hurdles of the type which injured the dual Champion Hurdle winner are likely to be a feature of British (and Irish) jumping for several years yet, despite the padded alternative having been successfully trialled as long ago as 2013.

Related: Talking Horses: Royal Ascot to defy odds by staging its first £1m races

Given racing’s oft-stated commitment to do “everything possible” to improve horse welfare during races, how can it be that only 13 of the country’s 40 tracks with a jumping programme currently use the most up-to-date hurdle?

Cost, perhaps, is one reason: the padded hurdles cost twice as much the old-style timber variety, roughly £400 per panel versus £200, and even a small-to-medium track will need around 60 panels, an investment of around £25,000. At Ascot, which installed padded hurdles from the start of the 2018/19 season, it will have been closer to 100 panels. Cost, though, should not be an overriding consideration when safety and welfare are involved, above all at the biggest tracks, like Cheltenham and Aintree, which will also be using timber hurdles at their big Festival meetings.

Tracks which have made the switch to padded have been delighted with the results. The reaction at Cork, which became the first Irish track to install padded hurdles from the start of this season, is typical. “We’re thrilled with the feedback,” Andrew Hogan, the track’s general manager, says. “There have been no reports of the injuries often sustained while jumping the traditional birch hurdles and the horses adapt very quickly to jumping them in the same style as the birch.”

And though minor scratches and scrapes are much more common than the hugely unfortunate injury suffered by Buveur D’Air, a cut can still extend a runner’s recovery time after a race, potentially reducing the number of starts it can make in a season. Field sizes could suffer as a result, while at the same time making tracks which do use padded hurdles more attractive to owners and trainers.

So why does the number of tracks with padded hurdles seem stuck at 13? Ultimately, the reason that many are reluctant to switch seems to be not so much the scale of investment required as the prospect that an even better alternative is imminent. The British Horseracing Authority is working alongside the RSPCA on a design for the next generation of hurdles, and so courses are holding back from investments of £25k or more in the hope, or expectation, of a bigger step forward in the near future.

“The timber hurdles are generally safe,” Robin Mounsey, the BHA’s spokesperson, said on Tuesday, “and incidents such as we saw with Buveur D’Air are extremely rare.

“However, we are always looking at ways to make racing safer. The padded hurdles have helped reduce minor injuries like cuts and scrapes to a certain extent, but the data is less conclusive at present on more serious and long-term injuries. The sport is currently looking into the development of a new design of hurdle, alongside the RSPCA, which has the potential to be safer still.”

The new hurdle is also expected to have a new colour scheme, as a result of studies which suggest yellow horizontals are more visible to horses than the current orange. The timetable for trials and then introduction of the hi-viz hurdles is still unclear, however, with a full racecourse debut seemingly “a couple of years” away at least. And so it seems that those familiar birch hurdles will be scraping, cutting and, occasionally, seriously injuring horses for some time yet.

It is no surprise to find that forward-thinking Ludlow – and also ‘Britain’s friendliest racecourse’ according to its website – made the switch two years ago, but sadly their card on Tuesday afternoon has been lost to the elements after temperatures dropped to -2C overnight.

Wednesday’s best bets

Speak Of The Devil (3.00) has a decent chance at the sole remaining jumps meeting at Haydock Park, but the most valuable action is on the all-weather, where the Kempton card includes the Listed Wild Flower Stakes.

Collide (5.40), who was fifth in an ultra-competitive handicap at Royal Ascot and has had a wind op since his last start, could be the answer here, while Lethal Lunch (5.10) has an obvious chance too at around 3-1. He was poorly drawn last time and never managed to get competitive, but an excellent win at Chelmsford in September gives him every chance off just a 4lb higher mark.

Lingfield 12.10 Global Hope 12.40 Holy Eleanor 1.10 Captain Jameson 1.45 Victory Bond 2.15 Mrs Ivy 2.50 Tacitly 3.20 Yasir 

Haydock 12.50 Teescomponentstrig 1.20 Bally Conor 1.55 Champagne Mystery 2.25 Sunny Express 3.00 Speak Of The Devil (nb) 3.30 True Romance

Kempton 3.40 Drop Kick Murphi 4.10 Ayr Harbour 4.40 Royal Council 5.10 Lethal Lunch (nap) 5.40 Collide 6.10 Debbonair 6.40 Rangali Island 7.10 Purple Paddy

Tips by Greg Wood