Relief for racecourses as dry spell ends with torrential rain

A word rarely used this summer was cropping up on Britain's racetracks on Thursday. Soft was in the going description at both Goodwood and Newmarket following a deluge of morning rain, which has not been seen in the south for months.

Officials at both courses welcomed the downpour ahead of their big-race weekend meetings and are confident the testing conditions will not have a major impact on field sizes.

Having endured a challenging summer of heatwaves and droughts, heavy rain hit parts of Britain overnight and on Thursday morning.

Goodwood had 30mm of rainfall, which was 25 per cent of their total since the beginning of March, while Newmarket had 38mm and conditions are now described as soft ahead of its two-day meeting which begins on Friday.

Goodwood's three-day fixture, which features the Group 2 Celebration Mile (3.35) on Saturday, begins on Friday evening and the going was eased to soft from good to soft, soft in places on Thursday afternoon.

Clerk of the course Ed Arkell said: "We're delighted to have some rain, but whether we wanted it the day before a three-day meeting is slightly debatable, although I think we're all grateful to have some rain about the place."

The scene in Newmarket

Horses walk through flooded water at the foot of Warren Hill in Newmarket on ThursdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

William Butler (left), assistant trainer to Sir Mark Prescott, walks down Warren Hill with the string of horses from Heath House StablesCredit: Edward Whitaker

Torrential rain plus thunder and lightning hits Newmarket as horses head to Warren HillCredit: Edward Whitaker

Staff of Jockey Club Estates desperately try to clear the floods created by torrential rain at the bottom of Warren Hill on ThursdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

William Jarvis's horses walk down Warren Hill as torrential rain arrives in NewmarketCredit: Edward Whitaker

Roger Varian's string walk through the floods at the bottom of Warren Hill on ThursdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Goodwood's seven-race card on Saturday has attracted 54 runners, with just four in the March Stakes (3.00) as well as five in the Celebration Mile, but Arkell is confident most declarations will stand their ground.

He said: "We don't foresee any challenges, we've kept plenty of moisture at it right throughout the summer and if you've got some moisture in the soil then the rain goes in much better.

"I don't think field sizes will be affected. We were good yesterday for declarations for racing tomorrow and trainers declared today knowing what was going on with the weather.

"I'm sure there will be some trainers who turn up and wait and see what the ground is riding like. That's obviously very sensible, but we will wait and see what happens."

Newmarket's meeting features the inaugural 18-runner Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes (2.45) on Saturday, and over half of their races on the card have attracted double-figure fields with 11 set to contest the Listed Hopeful Stakes (3.15).

Stand-in clerk of the course Roderick Duncan said: "It's been very much welcome. A lot of the rain had come before declaration time for Saturday, so trainers were aware that conditions were changing. By the looks of the declarations they've welcomed it as well.

"All credit goes Alan Hatherley and the staff at Newmarket as it's in superb condition. Having looked after it this week, I'm now thoroughly aware of how hard they've been working through the summer – as have a lot of them across the country. There's no decision to be made about watering, which is certainly a relief."

Grass gallops remain closed despite deluge

The rain was not enough to open up the grass gallops in Newmarket and meant trainers were still restricted to working their horses on the all-weather.

Trainer Chris Wall said: "We've had the best part of an inch this morning with a thunderstorm. We have had a lot of rain, but it will take an awful lot to shift the grass on the gallops.

"The ground on the racecourse will change because they've been watering that, but that's a different kettle of fish."

Wall's Newmarket counterpart James Ferguson added: "It didn't change anything about our work this morning, the storms were too much so we've taken it easy.

"We desperately need the rain for the ground, and while we didn't necessarily need it all at once, we're not complaining."

Lambourn missed most of the rain which means their grass gallops will remain shut for the foreseeable future, according to Jockey Club Estates Lambourn operations manager Will Riggall.

"It has missed us completely," he said. "We would need at least 30mm in a steady dose to even look at going on some grass gallops, to even make it firm – good to firm, we would need significant rainfall, days and days of prolonged rainfall to even make a dent in it.

"I'm just forgetting about the Flat season now and just praying we get enough rain to green the grass up for the jumpers, and get things in good nick come October and November.

"We are desperate for rain here. For anyone growing grass it has been a catastrophic summer."

Bath, whose fixtures this month have all been cancelled due to prolonged dry weather, did get some rain, but clerk of the course Ben Hicks said it remained unclear when racing can resume at the track.

He said: "We've had a little bit of misty rain this morning, but nothing major to change the conditions drastically. We're keeping an eye on the forecast and just keeping our fingers crossed for more rain.

"A deluge of heavy rain isn't the type that would be perfect, the perfect type of rain would be persistent and light."

Saturday's cards

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