National course soft and forecast unsettled in run-up to the big race

The going on the Grand National course eased to soft (from soft, good to soft in places) on Sunday, with Aintree groundstaff preparing for another week of sunshine and showers.

Although the track was dry on Sunday, Aintree received 13mm of rain on Saturday and more is expected during the week with the unsettled weather across Britain set to continue.

Clerk of the course Andrew Tulloch said on Sunday: “We’ve been dry today but the National course has eased a touch after the rain yesterday. The Mildmay course has taken the rain really well and is good to soft, soft in places, and it's soft, good to soft in places on the hurdles course.”

Conditions over the past few weeks have made preparing the courses for this week tougher than usual for Tulloch and his team, but he is looking forward to the start of the action.

“The forecast is unsettled for most of the week but there’s nothing we can do about that,” he said.

“It’s not been nice over the last three weeks or so and we’ve had to deal with that and act accordingly, but we’re all looking forward to the racing starting.”

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