Courses need to take enlightened view to stop sun being an obstacle
The genie is out of the bottle with regard to the missing out of hurdles and fences because of the sun, and it seems to affect more meetings each season.
Surely it is time more steps are taken to try to minimise the problem – even our ancestors knew where the sun would be at a certain time on a certain day when they built Stonehenge.
Aintree on October 29 offers an example. All the fences in the straight were missed out in the sixth race but by the time the bumper was run the sun was well behind the stands. Why were the races not scheduled the other way around? There is no rule that the bumper has to be the last race on a card.
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