Sweeping changes for National Hunt

Smith and fellow Yorkshire handler Ferdy Murphy led the campaign for brush hurdles in Britain - or, rather, to widen their usage. It's not an entirely new concept.

The difference is the wide - albeit not unanimous - welcome it's received.

It's said Hurst Park, which closed in 1962, used brush hurdles. More recently, they were intended for use in allweather jump racing before that discipline was phased out, but Nottinghamshire course, Southwell soon decided to retain them for its turf track. Sister course, Wolverhampton, later employed them, too.

That was six years ago. But, following a joint review of National Hunt racing by the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and National Trainers' Federation in 1999, calls for a 'safer' hurdle were answered with an experiment this summer using the brush design at Worcester. It was a great success.

From 675 runners in hurdle races from May to September, there were just five fallers. During the same period when traditional hurdles were in use the previous year, there were 21 fallers from 585 runners.

The nationwide average of hurdle fallers during that period in 2001 was 1.8 per cent. At Worcester, it was just 0.74 per cent.

Now the brush hurdle's popularityhas spread to Grade One courses. At the start of the current jumps season, Haydock introduced a sevenrace series using them, though still conducting most of its hurdle races over the traditional obstacles.

Aintree also voiced its intention to introduce the new hurdle, perhaps eventually as sole fare.

This heralds three-tier British jump racing and a potential headache for the BHB's race-planners.

Smith says the traditional hurdle should be thrown out entirely but this is not a popular view.

All sections of the industry stress that, the traditional hurdle having been modified to reduce the risk of injury, the brush should not be deemed 'better' but a different type of obstacle.

If the intention of the brush hurdle is to mould future chasers, it should be noted only 37 per cent of horses running in hurdle races go on to become chasers.

The rest - Champion hurdler Istabraq would be a famous example - restrict their career to the smaller obstacles. Would we want the Champion Hurdle staged over mini-fences?

Some trainers even disagree with Smith that the brush hurdle is a better preparation for chasing than the traditional style.

Others, having viewed the Worcester experiment, claim horses still flick through the top of them and question whether the aim of better jumping is actually being met.

It's also suggested the brush hurdle, while ideal for a flat track like Aintree, would not be practical for an undulating one like Cheltenham.

The cost of buying and maintaining both hurdles is too prohibitive for most tracks or else logistics dictate they cannot co-exist, prompting a straight choice. This can only reduce opportunities for traditional hurdlers.

Racing's chiefs, who have allowed the brush hurdle's popularity to grow naturally, acknowledge we're in the midst of huge constitutional change. Watch closely - a new chapter in jump racing has begun.