THE pressures on small trainers should be taken into account by the racing authorities before they tinker with the amount of time between races.

In recent weeks bookmakers, racegoers, members of the press and even some trainers have voiced their opposition to 35-minute gaps between races. The argument goes that 35 minutes makes for too long a day at the races for all parties, with often very little to do between races.

There is 35 minutes between all races at Galway today and on Sunday, with one exception. Wexford on Sunday is the same.

However, John Fitzgerald of the Restricted Trainers Association says he has received plenty of calls and texts this week from small trainers who say they often need every minute available between races to complete their tasks.

“Small trainers are often on their own at the races, or have one employee or a friend to assist them on the day,” Fitzgerald said. “They would also probably groom and walk the horse pre-race themselves. If the time gets reduced it could be extremely stressful for any smaller trainer to be able to get everything done in time.”

As an example, Fitzgerald ran through a typical timeline for a trainer with runners in consecutive races. He said a jumps race often takes over five minutes to complete and, after the debrief from the jockey, it could easily take another 15-20 minutes to return the horse to the stableyard and saddle the next horse, depending on the distance between the stableyard and the parade ring.

He said: “If things are done in haste, errors can happen. A piece of equipment might not be fitted correctly and the horse could become unnecessarily stressed.”

Fitzgerald added: “Most trainers do not have any spare time between races, so any reduction of the 35 minutes would be detrimental to them.

“If this idea was pushed through it would suit the punters and the media but it would be challenging for stable staff and others behind the scenes, including racecourse staff.”