TRAINERS have expressed their concerns about being left "at a disadvantage" against overseas rivals after being told they will have to declare when horses have undergone wind surgery.

The British Horseracing Authority announced the new rule on Wednesday, meaning that as of January 19th racecards will carry information confirming when a horse is having its first run after a procedure.

However, the National Trainers Federation believes the BHA has failed to carry out adequate research into the subject and expressed its doubts about effectively policing the new regulation, putting British-based handlers at a disadvantage on raceday.

A statement read: "The NTF is concerned about the new rule on several fronts. First, any rule change should have been prefaced by more research. The BHA has made it clear that its motive for implementing this rule is to provide information for bettors that might influence their betting behaviour.

"The NTF understands the desire to fulfil the needs of racing's customers but in this data driven world, reliable data is essential.

"In the consultation, we proposed the BHA's first step should be to collect data from trainers about wind surgeries carried out over a two-year period. That data would then be analysed to assess the extent to which different wind surgeries have a significant effect on the performance of a large enough cohort of horses to have some confidence in the value of information provided to bettors.

"The BHA has opted to ignore the opportunity for an evidence-based approach on this issue. We believe that is poor regulation.

"The NTF's other concerns include the impossibility of effectively policing the rule, especially in relation to horses trained outside Britain. Some types of surgery cannot be detected post-operatively.

"We urged the BHA to seek alignment from Ireland and France before introducing the rule. The BHA chose to make the running, but we fear this will leave British racing connections at a disadvantage and undermine the objective of the rule."

The BHA, who say the measure has "the needs of the sport's betting customer as the focus", believe the decision is "in the interests of openness and transparency" after a survey led by the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF) found details of wind surgeries is the most requested information by the betting public.

Jamie Stier, chief regulatory officer for the BHA, said: "The sport's betting customers, and potential customers, are at the heart of this development.

"It is simply essential that the sport is seen to be open, fair and transparent. In a modern world, information which may have an impact on a horse's performance should be available to all, not only those who are close to the horse in question.

"The more data that is available to the betting customer serves to make the sport a more attractive betting product. It is vital that we keep up with other sports if we are going to continue to compete in an increasingly crowded betting marketplace.

"We commenced consideration of this initiative some time ago as we were aware, anecdotally, that it was an issue which concerned the betting public. A survey by the HBF which showed that this piece of information was the punters' number one issue reinforced the need to act on this matter.

"We are grateful to the many stakeholders who have shared their views on this issue through an extensive consultation period.

"Declaration of wind operations is already mandatory in some other racing nations, and the BHA are led to believe that other racing nations will also consider following suit following the BHA's implementation of the changes."

The BHA also points to the opportunity to collect research data on the nature, frequency and impact of wind surgeries, with David Sykes, director of equine health and welfare, adding: "Wind operations are routine surgical procedures which are designed to assist a horse with its breathing. We have identified a list of five of the most relevant and frequent surgeries, which we are asking trainers to declare.

"We believe it is reasonable that the betting customers will take it as read that the trainer, owner, and their veterinarian will have performed the most appropriate surgery to address the issue with the specific horse.

"Assumptions on the impact of the surgery on the horse's form should rest entirely with the betting customer. It is understood that not all wind surgeries are successful, but some clearly are. Because of this, it is our view that the information should be in the public domain, and the betting customer should be given the opportunity to assess the value of the information.

"We are aware of the view that information about wind operations being made public may have an impact on bloodstock values. However, we place the importance of openness and transparency above this commercial interest.

"Moreover, the gathering of data from declared wind operations could be invaluable for equine welfare research and development in the future."

The declaration of wind surgeries will only be required for horses which have previously raced, regardless of whether this was in Britain or elsewhere and if a horse has surgery on multiple occasions, it must be declared each time.

Horses trained overseas, but racing in Britain, will also be subject to the rule, while the BHA says "there will be a framework within the rules to enable the non-compliance to be addressed" should a trainer not make the necessary declaration.

Racing's ruler also added that other elements of data declaration, such as mares in foal, are currently being considered and further updates will be provided in the new year.

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