Grand National course set to soften on Tuesday - but conditions anticipated to dry back before raceday

The Grand National course is expected to get softer in the days before Saturday's race with the wet weather set to continue on Tuesday.

The ground on the National course, described as soft, heavy in places, was taking more rain on Monday as a band of wet weather, not forecast to clear until Tuesday, moved across Merseyside. 

Drier conditions are then forecast before the meeting starts on Thursday but clerk of the course Sulekha Varma said conditions on the heavy part of the course, either side of the Canal Turn, were "pretty deep".

The track has already been hit with 24mm of rain in the last week and showers could arrive during all three days of the meeting. A heavier spell of rain is forecast on Thursday night into Friday.

Varma said on Monday afternoon: "We've got some more heavy rain coming on Monday evening and it's looking like we'll get some more on Tuesday as well. We get some slightly drier, but not entirely dry [weather], and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday periods of sunshine and some scattered showers as well."

Speaking to Racing TV, she added: "We'll get a bit softer first but we may well see things improve before the end of the week. I'm hoping we'll see some improvement but where the heavy ground is, which is from Foinavon right through until Canal Turn and up to fences 11 and 12, it's pretty deep. It'll take some time for that to dry out.

"We've been getting that windy weather and sunshine over the weekend and the track did dry but then you get 6mm of rain and you're getting back to square one. It's not taking much to top it off."

The ground on the Mildmay course is soft and the meeting kicks off with the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices' Chase on Thursday.

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