Areas of false ground force Hereford to cancel Easter Sunday card

Sunday's meeting at Hereford was cancelled out of the blue on Saturday afternoon after officials at the track discovered areas of false ground following an extensive spell of watering at the track.

The decision was made after a 4.30pm inspection by clerk of the course Libby O'Flaherty, having discovered the surface was "inconsistent" only on Saturday.

"We've been watering since the last meeting on March 24 and yesterday it was absolutely fine and I was just watering to maintain it," said O'Flaherty after calling the meeting off.

Four-time champion jump jockey Richard Johnson retires

"The water I put on it yesterday, when I came in this morning and walked it, has just sat in areas and created these areas of false ground and it's just not safe to run on.

"We've had quite a lot of runners and it is quite bare in places, which everyone is totally aware of, and the water is just running to those areas and it's just sat there. Unfortunately we've had to abandon it.

Libby O'Flaherty: clerk of the course at Hereford

"We've been putting between 4-5mm on it each day and it's so frustrating because yesterday it was absolutely fine and we were just watering it yesterday to maintain and again watering it today to maintain it but it's just gone today."

O'Flaherty said the problem areas were down the leisure centre straight and the back straight where the course is at its narrowest.

Asked if there was the possibility to rail around those areas, she added: "Unfortunately there's no way otherwise I'd have done that. That's the frustrating thing, because we're so narrow, it's not like we could get around them. It's on the racing line.

"I did not want to abandon at all and it's frustrating for all of us. The team have worked so hard but the unseasonal high temperatures, strong winds in the past ten days combined with the wet weather we had in the winter mean the areas of false ground have beat us."

The ground had been described as good to firm, good in places.

On the late call, she said: "We saw some areas this morning and we moved the way we were watering and it's just not helped us.

"We need to water to keep the sting out of the ground because there are areas that are good to firm, that if you didn't water those areas they'd go firm and what's happened, whilst trying to maintain those areas, the other bits of the ground have just gone softer, so therefore it's inconsistent."

O'Flaherty was not without sympathy with leading trainers Henry Daly and Fergal O'Brien, both due to saddle runners on the card, inclined not to point the finger of blame.

Fergal O'Brien: 'it's better to do it now than go and have two races and then everyone is moaning about the ground'Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

O'Brien said: "It's disappointing for us, we had three runners there and I always like to support the track but it's one of those things. It's better to do it now than go and have two races and then everyone is moaning about the ground. There's nothing they can do about it."

Daly added: "It's come out of the blue to be honest. It's just bad luck and if you haven't got much grass it's very hard to manage your watering because there is nothing to absorb it. No one ever does this deliberately and it's just very unfortunate."

Harry Skelton, one behind Brian Hughes in the contest to be champion jump jockey, had five rides booked at the meeting.

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