In racing, as in a number of other sports, necessary change is frequently obstructed by factionalism. English cricket suffered for years, reforms designed to benefit the national team being blocked by an administration made up of the counties. It is the politics of self-interest and it runs rampant in the fixture list of British racing.

The syndrome prevails despite a comprehensive and inclusive fixture list review undertaken by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) as its first priority on taking central office. The proof is everywhere you look.

When the 2009 fixture list is announced shortly, it will encompass 1,480 meetings - yes, fewer than this year but a reduction of a paltry 24, less than one every other week. It scarcely qualifies as a cull, or begins to address the widely acknowledged issue of too much racing.

To their credit, the BHA has tried manfully to tackle other defects. Certain Sundays will be left blank and Bank Holiday racing is being marginally strengthened. But general trends will continue unchecked, because since the unwelcome and unhelpful intervention of the Office of Fair Trading, the central authority cannot live up to its name.

Racecourses are empowered to decline any reforms that might be for the general good, including racing less often. This continues to blight efforts to define clear parameters for seasons, to iron out geographic clashes and to correct a migration of all the best racing towards weekends.

On this last matter, one can understand the position of racecourses. If they can attract 40,000 people on a Saturday, as York and Chester did last week, why would they want to race before a scattering of diehards on a Monday?

But its impact runs deep. Last Friday, there was decent racing at Newmarket, Newbury, York, Ascot and Chester. Top jockeys were thin on the ground and punters were overwhelmed by volume. It was too much of a good thing, as opposed to too much dross, which applies in the early days of most weeks. It is hard to find anyone who disagrees on this. Even harder to find a cure.