'We can't keep running horses on quick ground' - Windsor card decimated by going-related non-runners

Windsor's bank holiday fixture was heavily impacted by a spate of non-runners due to quick ground on Monday, with nine runners withdrawn from one race.

Twenty-one of the 24 non-runners across the seven-race card were due to the going, which was described as good to firm, including eight of the nine runners taken out of the 1m2f handicap won by Silawi.

The GoingStick reading provided by the course was 7.7 – BHA Flat average of nearly good – and the ground had been good for the track's last meeting on Saturday when watering took place on multiple occasions in the build-up to that fixture.

Trainer Pam Sly was due to saddle two runners on the card – Perianth (2.10) and Fenlander (5.05) – but made late decisions regarding their participation.

She said: "When I declared it was good to soft ground, but it was 7.7 on the stick on Monday and good to firm [the BHA's average reading for good to firm ground on the Flat is around 8.6]. I think these GoingSticks are hopeless, but it's an unusual year. I know tracks can only water to a certain degree, but they're going to have to say it's firm if it is. They have a difficult job, I understand that, but we can't keep running horses on quick ground."

Adrian Wintle, who won the 6f handicap with Monseur Patat, added: "I think people were hoping for a lot softer ground, maybe that was the reasoning behind it. The good to firm description probably frightened off a few, but to be fair to the track I think it was nearer good than anything."

Windsor's clerk of the course Charlie Rees was happy with conditions after the track's fixture just 48 hours earlier.

Speaking before racing, he said: "We obviously raced on Saturday with good ground after it changed in the morning due to the strong winds. It dried out throughout the day with the strong winds, and it's been the same story all weekend. We always felt it was going to dry back.

"I think it's just a sign of the times really. Trainers are obviously desperate for a bit of cut in the ground for certain horses and unfortunately the promised rain we were once forecast didn’t deliver."

There were 39 non-runners across three Flat meetings in Britain on Monday, with ten taken out at Redcar, of which three were absent due to the good to firm ground.

Cartmel's jumps card was also hit by nine non-runners due to the ground, which was good, good to soft in places.

Windsor non-runners

All due to going unless otherwise stated

2.10: Cill Mocheallog, Hierarchy, Perianth
2.45: Fantasy Obsessor
3.20: Capote's Dream (no suitable jockey available), Durham Castle, Knebworth, Sergeant Pep
3.55: Alpha Crucis
4.30: Chaturanga (bad scope), High Point, Kotari, Let's Dream, Miletus, Moktasaab, Mustazeed, Son of Man, Valiabad
5.05: Fenlander, Miggy Magic
5.40: Glitter Code, Mighty Ruler, Skyelight, Unforgettable Belle

Read more:

Does modern-day Jockey Club maestro Jean-Claude Rouget have another Chantilly ace to play? 

Which of these Derby outsiders priced at 20-1, 50-1, 66-1 and 150-1 tickles your fancy? 

A potential Arc candidate could return on Brigadier Gerard night at Sandown before French Derby heads weekend action  

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.