The chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, Brant Dunshea, has revealed the sport will consider more direct action protests as they continue to battle against government plans to introduce affordability tests for punters. A one-day strike last September that led to four scheduled meetings being cancelled played a pivotal role in the government abandoning the increase in tax on betting from 15% to 21%, which the BHA estimated would have cost £330m to the industry.

The BHA have followed their “Axe the Racing Tax” campaign with a coordinated attempt to persuade the government to think again about affordability checks, which, if introduced, would require up to 120,000 regular gamblers to provide personal documentation in order to continue betting, according to research from the Betting and Gaming Council.

Independent modelling conducted by the global accountancy firm EY has found that up to 44,000 could switch to black market operators as a result, which would cost tens of millions of pounds in racing’s betting turnover, already down £2bn since 2021.

The Gambling Commission board is due to make a decision on whether to introduce the checks next month, with more than 400 racing figures including prominent trainers and MPs writing an open letter this week to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging her to intervene.

“There are other ways of sending a message and the open letter is a good example of that, but our campaign will continue,” Dunshea said. “In terms of direct action, that’s something we would consider in our broader campaign strategy, but it’s not something we will be discussing publicly.

“Our day of action, as I’d call it, was a tremendous example of where, when the industry comes together with a common purpose for a cause, it’s an incredibly powerful movement. The government recognised from our campaign last year the cultural importance of our sport to the broader economy, how it’s very much embedded in our culture and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports.”

The online data analysis company Yield Sec reported last year that black market operators had grown from 0.43% of the UK gambling market in 2020 to 9% last year, with £379m wagered with unlicensed operators who do not contribute to the exchequer.

“We always were of the view that the introduction of any sort of affordability checks needed to be truly frictionless,” Dunshea said. “And we don’t believe that to be the case based on the current pilot.”

With the Grand National meeting at Aintree starting on Thursday, Dunshea expressed surprise and concern at remarks from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after last month’s Cheltenham festival. Dunshea wrote to his opposite number, Jo Rowland, after a statement issued by the RSPCA described the death of four horses at Cheltenham as “clearly at odds with the UK’s status as a nation of animal lovers”.

There are concerns within racing that under the recently appointed Rowland the RSPCA could be taking a more militant approach to the sport, which would be galling for the BHA, particularly given that £60m of investment on equine welfare over the past 25 years has succeeded in reducing fatality rates to 0.22% of runners.

Nottingham 1.17 Bay Royale 1.47 Qarreeb 2.22 Final Appeal 2.57 Over Spiced 3.32 Dryburgh 4.07 Hostelry 4.40 Saint Of The Sea 5.10 Jez Bomb

Catterick Bridge 1.38 Invitorio 2.13 Liverpool Star 2.48 Red Spells Danger 3.23 Precious Spartan 3.58 Tupero 4.33 Eagles Whistle 5.05 Aberama Gold 5.38 Moostar

Fontwell 2.30 Hardly Surprising 3.05 Northanger Abbey 3.40 Duhallow Tommy 4.15 Ferret Jeeter (nb) 4.47 Rap Soul 5.17 Ballylicky Bay

Kempton 5.00 Romantic Symphony 5.30 Electric Dreams 6.00 Kenergy 6.30 Tattie Bogle 7.00 Club Class (nap) 7.30 Return Of The Gods 8.00 Hint Of The Jungle 8.30 Upepo

“We were surprised by the comments,” Dunshea said. “We can see why they were interpreted in some places as having more of the tone of an animal rights group and claiming credit for work done by the racing industry.

“However, we greatly value our relationship with the RSPCA. We work with them on a frequent basis and their contributions are always welcomed. We have raised our concerns, but we are absolutely confident we will continue to maintain our positive relationship with them”

Greg Wood’s Aintree day one tipping preview

The second, third and fourth in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last month are among seven runners in the two-and-a-half mile Aintree Hurdle, one of four Grade One events on the opening day of the Grand National meeting, and Brighterdaysahead (4.05) is a fair price at around 2-1 to confirm the festival form at a track that suits her well.

Gordon Elliott’s mare was half a length in front of The New Lion at Cheltenham with another two-and-a-half back to Alexei in fourth, and while that was a big improvement on her run in last season’s Champion, Lossiemouth comfortably reversed the form of the Irish Champion Hurdle in February.

Brighterdaysahead had no answer to Lossiemouth’s burst of speed between the final two flights, but the return to two-and-a-half miles on Thursday will play to her strengths and she already has a track-and-trip success to her name, in the Grade One novice hurdle here two seasons ago.

Aintree 1.45 Another Cheltenham festival reunion as three of the principals in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham last month face off again. Minella Study was third at the festival, a short-head behind Maestro Conti, but led over the last before being passed by the winner in the last half-furlong and could be ideally suited by this sharper test.

Aintree 2.20 Lulamba will be a short price here to atone for a costly defeat in the Arkle at Cheltenham but Koktail Divin has been somewhat overlooked as a result and could be over-priced at around 3-1. He travelled as well as anything in the over three miles and a furlong at Cheltenham last time before his stamina began to run dry, and this return to two-and-a-half promises to suit ideally.

Aintree 1.45 Minella Study (nb) 2.20 Koktail Divin 2.55 Protektorat 3.30 Barton Snow 4.05 Brighterdaysahead 4.40 Javert Allen (nap) 5.15 Burds Of A Feather

Southwell 2.07 La Belle Forest 2.42 Ay Up Duck 3.17 Hiya Maite 3.47 Polly Darling 4.25 Peaky Blinder 4.55 Down To The Kid 5.25 Electrocution

Taunton 2.32 Minella Yoga 3.07 Noble Blue 3.40 Little Venice 4.15 Wicked Thoughts 4.50 Inferno Sacree 5.20 Hall Lane 5.55 Kilifi Creek

Wolverhampton 5.30 Naughty Niall 6.00 Astrological 6.30 Henery Hawk 7.00 Youarenotforgiven 7.30 Gold Star Hero 8.00 On The Inlet 8.30 Siam Ruby

Aintree 2.55 Jango Baie, the Gold Cup runner-up, will be a short price to go one better in the Bowl but he was beaten at Aintree after his Arkle success last season and is hard to back with confidence after a hard race at the festival. There are question marks over Spillane’s Tower on the ground, so Protektorat, a Grade One winner here as a novice, appeals as a live alternative.

Aintree 3.30 The official margin of victory greatly underestimated Barton Snow’s superiority in Cheltenham’s hunter chase, as he was still on the bit when he made his only mistake of the race at the final fence, and he can extend his unbeaten run in this sphere to six races.

Aintree 4.40 An ideal test for the front-running Javert Allen, who returns to the minimum trip with cheekpieces fitted to channel his exuberance.