Imperial Cup could be run on heavy going if forecast rain continues

On Friday evening the Sandown groundstaff were out in the rain moving a mile of rail to provide as much fresh ground as possible for Saturday's Imperial Cup card, and clerk of the course Andrew Cooper expects the meeting to be run on ground described as heavy, soft in the back straight, should the rain continue into the night for as long as the forecast suggests.

"We've had less than 2mm today but the drizzle of this level looks set to continue for a few more hours according to the radar," said Cooper. "Hopefully it'll be nothing too much in volume.

"The grounds team are going to be moving about a mile of rail this evening and then we have to realign the hurdles in several places as we've saved some fresh stuff for tomorrow.

"I'm going to leave it at soft, heavy in places overnight and we'll take stock of how much rain we get overnight. I could see us calling it heavy, back straight soft, if we get the rain. The forecast is relatively dry tomorrow so we'll largely know where we stand first thing."

Kelso officials will know where they stand at 10am on Saturday, when they inspect for Sunday's rearranged meeting which features the Listed Premier Chase and Grade 2 Premier Novices' Hurdle, both backed by the Tote.

The ground was described as heavy on Friday and, although the snow has melted, there is concern about a forecast front of rain passing through on Saturday.

Only 36 runners were declared for with six in the Premier Hurdle and three – Bristol De Mai, Seeyouatmidnight and I Just Know – in the Premier Chase.