'Expect this on a regular basis' - Goodwood clerk anticipating more hot spells

Maintaining decent ground is complicated enough without the added difficulty of contending with a drought, but Goodwood's clerk of the course Ed Arkell believes the track's team has risen to the challenge.

Record high temperatures and a dearth of summer rainfall has made life harder, and Arkell believes those testing conditions will become increasingly frequent due to the consequences of climate change.

The ground going into the penultimate day of the track's marquee meeting is good to firm, good in places and the response from connections throughout the week has been broadly positive.

"Andrew Blunden and his team have worked fantastically hard and done an amazing job," said Arkell. "The weather hasn't really helped us, but it's been settled so we've known what we're dealing with.

"Everybody I've spoken to has been happy with the ground and the racing has shown that. We've had some amazing contests and it's great to see the odd track record broken. We all know they don't get broken on very rattling ground as horses don't let themselves down."

Goodwood has been glorious this week, but the dry hot weather leading up to the meeting has made life very difficult for groundstaffCredit: Edward Whitaker

On whether his job will become increasingly challenging, Arkell said: "You have to expect similar conditions on a regular basis and that comes with the risk of thundering downpours, which are unpredictable.

"This is my fifth Goodwood festival and for three of them we've had bouts of extreme dry weather beforehand. We have to accept that's the way the world is moving and we all have to prepare for that."

For the first time at the meeting, a false rail was in place to create a cutaway two furlongs from the finish on the opening two days of the meeting, with the aim of alleviating incidents of trouble in running.

"It worked fantastically well," added Arkell. "We'll look at doing that again in future years. The cutaway has made a huge difference and we may look to leave it in place for the third day next season. We've not had the hard-luck stories and horses have run their best races."

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