THE new facility to reopen weight-for-age races with five or less declarations was tested for the first time this week but yielded no extra runners.

In a move to increase the competitiveness of these races, HRI began a three-month trial last Monday to allow trainers an extra 15 minutes after declaration to change their mind and add their entries to the final field in races which meet the re-opening criteria. No withdrawals can be made during this window.

The first race to be reopened was at Clonmel on Thursday when just four were declared for the Micro Dog ID Chase won by Bright New Dawn. Despite being contacted, connections of the other 10 entries declined the last-minute opportunity to join the field. Only three went to post.

All today’s graded races at Leopardstown filled adequately but Sunday’s mares’ chase at Naas was also re-opened after attracting four declarations. Just one mare had defected and she runs at Leopardstown today.