Sandown going eased on chase course after it 'rode a bit slower than it walks'

Sandown’s clerk of the course Andrew Cooper expects the chase going for Tingle Creek day to remain good to soft, good in places having eased during racing on Friday.

The going changed from good, good to soft in places after two chases on day one of the meeting, with feedback from riders suggesting the ground rode slower than it walked. Soft remains the going description for the hurdles course.

Cooper said on Friday: “The chase track has ridden a bit slower than it walks. After the first professional chase I changed it to good to soft, good in places, which is where it will sit overnight and I suspect where it will be tomorrow. There's a lot of fresh track on both courses to open up to overnight.”

The ground is expected to be holding at Aintree, where it is good to soft on the chase and hurdle course and good to soft, soft in places on the National course.

Aintree was hit by 40 millimetres of rain the previous week but it has been largely dry since, and in a stark contrast to racecourses in the south, clerk of the course Sulekha Varma revealed the track has been watered just once since the summer.

Varma said: “We watered the track on one day in the lead-up to our October fixture but that’s the only watering we’ve done since we raced in June.

“I think it’s going to be tacky, sticky ground and hard work on Saturday having had a lot of rain last week and a dry week since.”

Read these next . . .

£280 in February, £3,600 in March: Cheltenham Festival hotel prices soar

'He should be spot on for this' - 20-1, 16-1 and 5-1 tips for Saturday's racing

First to four? Honeysuckle's heroic path to potential Hatton's Grace history

The world's number 1 horse racing app just got better! Download the brand new Racing Post app for free to experience our new game-changing odds comparison, exclusive daily big-name tipping and unrivalled app-only content. Click here to download the latest version.