Leopardstown blames 'impossible situation' as fast ground decimates big meeting

Leopardstown's clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer said on Sunday the track's groundstaff were in an impossible position due to the unusual weather patterns as firm ground prompted a glut of non-runners in the Unibet Irish Gold Cup and the rest of Sunday's showpiece card.

In the €225,000 Grade 1 highlight, six of the ten declared runners were scratched on the basis of unsuitable ground, after the going on the chase course was changed from good on Saturday to good, good to firm in places on Sunday.

Al Boum Photo, Balko Des Flos, Monalee, Edwulf, Noble Endeavor and Anibale Fly were all scratched from the Gold Cup due to the ground, while Flogas Novice Chase market leader Delta Work was withdrawn due to the underfoot conditions.

In total, the second leg of the Dublin Racing Festival was hit by 26 non-runners, of which 22 were due to the unusually fast conditions. Champion trainer Willie Mullins was philosophical about the matter, describing it as "a once-in-a-lifetime weather situation".

The below average level of rainfall had already rendered the ground drier than normal, but with the country covered in frost and/or snow all week, Wyer explained that the track's hands were tied in terms of what they could do to ensure conditions that were acceptably soft for winter-ground horses – the main fear being that watering would have increased the risk of the meeting being lost to frost.

"In the lead into this meeting, ten days before this fixture, we were given a forecast by Met Eireann of 40-50mm of rainfall," Wyer said.

"We got maybe 20mm of that, and we started off on the Monday of this week with a forecast of 20mm to 40mm of rain, sleet or snow, and sub-zero temperatures all week.

"Watering with that forecast, particularly with the sub-zero aspect, would be alien to me. I'm not sure any other track would go along those lines.

"The forecast was for temperatures to be at their lowest on Friday night. At Dublin airport it got down to minus six, and we got down to minus three or four here. I'm not sure watering is the right thing to do given such circumstances, even though we've ended up where we are."

Of the prevailing ground, he said: "It suits a good-actioned horse, but clearly it's not ideal for real winter types. Last year you'd lose your wellies, so deep was the ground at this meeting. It's just a different dynamic this year."

Noel Meade, who saddled Road To Respect to finish second in the Gold Cup, was among those who sympathised with the situation the track found themselves in.

"I think Lorcan is right," he said. "If they'd watered heavily during the week, or last weekend, and got the frost we got Friday night, we might not have been racing at all.

"And if they'd watered and got the rainfall that was forecast, there would be people giving out that it was too heavy.

"It's a Catch-22 situation. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. The way it's turned out today, you would have loved if they had watered, but hindsight is a fine thing. They were in an impossible situation."

Wyer added a review would take place to consider how to manage such circumstances in future. "There maybe has to be a conversation about watering in sub-zero temperatures," he said.

"Myself and [racecourse manger] Pat Keogh and track foreman Willie Gibbons discussed our options and we had to make a decision. Like after any festival, we'll sit down and dissect where we've ended up and have a conversation about it. It was an unusual situation."

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