Time to move beyond the GoingStick when accurately assessing ground conditions

Being the sort of punter who downplays the importance of the going can often feel like being the only vegan at a barbecue. Purely in terms of the analogy, it might be slightly worse. Rarely will you be left alone to pick at the couscous. Instead you are likely to be offered steak until you feel compelled to raise your voice a little too loudly.

In the glamorous terminology we use to describe the sizing up of racehorses, most aspects are classed either as science or art. Too often, the ground is neither. It spends too much time in the realms of folk tradition.

Your horse ran badly - are you at a loss to explain it? No, it was the ground. But he has run well on 'soft' before, has he not? Yes, but it was sticky this time. Why did the crops fail this year? The gods must be angry.