Johnston aggrieved by effects of switch

A host of top-class horses and riders will line up at Yorkshire’s premier track today and tomorrow, even though two days of action coincide with high-profile cards at rival Grade One courses Newmarket, Ascot and Chester.

The convergence of these fixtures has been precipitated by the Darley July Cup, the £400,000 highlight of Newmarket’s July meeting, being switched to a Saturday in a bid to boost attendance.

Yet, while the clash has done nothing to diminish one of York’s biggest meetings of the year, it was criticised by Mark Johnston, the prominent Middleham trainer and recently-appointed British Horseracing Authority director.

As pressure grows on the BHA, and others, to reconsider the scheduling of racing to avoid such clashes, and take account of prize money concerns, Johnston wrote on his blog that the situation was “a complete mess” that did Flat racing few favours.

“The people behind this nonsensical shift of all the best meetings onto the same days are driven by short-term self interest and have no regard for the overall interests of the sport,” added Johnston.

“For half of the week, or more, we are given little more than boring betting shop fodder and then, come Friday and Saturday, we are bombarded with good races (in terms of conditions and prize money) with no regard for the available horse population and no regard for the availability of jockeys. It is a complete mess.

“It is all very well to suggest that this will provide opportunities for a greater number of jockeys but, firstly, there simply aren’t enough to go round on these busy days (especially at the unnecessarily low minimum weights in some races), and, more importantly, the top riders should all be riding against each other in the top races.

“It’s like running the World Cup qualifiers on the same day as the FA Cup final – half the team is missing.”

Despite arrangements for owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff being stretched to the limit, the calibre of York’s richest John Smith’s Cup card means the likes of champion jockey Paul Hanagan, Arc-winning jockey Ryan Moore and St Leger hero William Buick will be in action tomorrow on Knavesmire.

They will be joined by teenage French prodigy Mickael Barzalona. Victorious on Pour Moi in the Epsom Derby, he will ride Royal Ascot runner-up Lost In the Moment in the big race – his first experience of York – because Godolphin’s No 1 rider Frankie Dettori is in action at Newmarket.

In the past, Newmarket’s three-day July meeting was staged from Tuesday to Thursday, avoiding any clash with York, Ascot and Chester.

The meeting then switched to a Wednesday to Friday slot a few years ago before the latest move – in part because the July Cup is now part of the Qipco British Champions Series.

Johnston is not the only trainer with difficult decisions to take. David Elsworth, the man responsible for greats such as Desert Orchid and Persian Punch, is set to let Swiss Diva take her chance in York’s tyregiant.com Summer Stakes today – despite also declaring her for tomorrow’s July Cup.

The five-year-old won three times in France during 2010 but failed to make her presence felt on her first start of the current campaign in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot. Elsworth would like to let his charge run in the July Cup in testing ground. With the East Anglia weather unfavourable, he is leaning towards running her at Group Three level on Knavesmire, where conditions look set to be more in her favour.

“She’s ground dependent but, at the moment, it looks likely she’ll be running at York,” said Elsworth. “The ground is currently good and there is a bit of rain around, so we could end up with ground on the soft side, which would suit her. She does like to get her toe in.

“I have left her in the July Cup as well. That is obviously a Group One and a bigger challenge, but should it pour down at Newmarket and the ground ended up soft, we would think about that as well.”

York’s head of marketing and sponsorship James Brennan said advanced ticket sales matched expectations, and that the executive understood Newmarket’s dilemma.

“There is a push that the better races are put on when most people can see them,” he said. “We understand this with the Ebor moving to a Saturday next month for the first time.

“However, the John Smith’s Cup has been a big day for 51 years and I expect the 52nd running to be no different because of the prize money and quality of racing that we can offer.”