• Course switches to leaf birch in obstacles this season• Bristol De Mai aims for hat-trick in Saturday’s Betfair ChaseThe material used to make Haydock’s steeplechase fences has been changed for the jumps season, following controversy this time last year when some racing professionals felt they were too stiff and contributed to an unusually high faller rate on Betfair Chase day.
Kirkland Tellwright, the clerk of the course at the Merseyside track, said on Monday he had decided to use leaf birch as the stuffing for the fences, rather than black birch, which he accepts led to them being tightly packed a year ago.