'It seems to be a recurring theme at the moment and it needs to be rectified' - Haydock hole causes three races to be scrapped

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A serious problem with the racing surface threatened a major meeting for the fourth time this year on Saturday, leaving Haydock racegoers robbed of three scheduled races.

Racing was delayed for an hour and 45 minutes at the Merseyside course after a hole was found in the track, rendering it unsafe to be used for the rest of the Temple Stakes card.

Following an inspection, the meeting was switched from the outer to the inner home straight, which had been used for the first two days of the meeting, but only the three remaining sprint races were run. Those on the round course, including the £100,000 Silver Bowl over a mile, were abandoned.

It was the latest incident in a year in which Cheltenham's Trials day was curtailed due to a drainage problem, Goodwood lost two races on a Saturday card when heavy rain made the track slippery and racing on the second day of the Chester May meeting was delayed for more than an hour after the bend was deemed unsafe.

Officials inspect the hole at Haydock

Saturday's incident occurred after Friendly Soul took a misstep around two and a half furlongs from home in the opening Hedge of Oak Stakes.

Clerk of the course Dan Cooper said: "Straight away we asked our team to go and have a look at the surface there. The head groundsman reported an issue was found so I suggested with the BHA stewards that this was formal inspection grounds.

"We looked at the track and decided that there is a significant drainage issue, there seems to be a hole from drainage on our track that's caused the misstep. Therefore this wouldn't be safe to race on today. We couldn't continue to race on this track."

The stewards agreed with that judgement and the three remaining sprints – the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes, Group 2 Temple Stakes and a 5f handicap – were run instead on the inside course.

Night Raider wins the delayed William Hill Temple Stakes on the inner home straight under Clifford LeeCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Explaining why the round-course races could not be switched, Cooper said: "We don't think we've got the resources to make sufficient bends for the correct race distances. The total hours it takes to do bend configuration is 20 staff and three hours' work. We haven't got that resource here."

In the long gap while the decision was being made and the inner track prepared for racing, Maureen Haggas, wife of trainer William, said:  "It's not an ideal situation and it doesn't shine a very good light on racing at the moment.

"We had Cheltenham and Chester and Goodwood. It seems to be a recurring theme at the moment and it needs to be rectified."

Jack Channon was upset at the loss of the Silver Bowl, in which he had been due to run Crest Of Fire, and said: "It's annoying. I trained my horse for eight weeks for this race. He could have gone anywhere."

Hugo Palmer, who had two in the race, said: "It would have been lovely if they could run the round-course races at the end but apparently they have agency staff to help them do that and there isn't enough manpower.

"But there are 15,000 people here who'd like to see the races run, we could have all rolled up our sleeves and I'd happily have gone and moved rails!

"It sounds as though they're going to ask the BHA if they can move the Silver Bowl. A lot of people were coming here today looking for a good run to get into Royal Ascot and it's a £100,000 heritage handicap. If it can be moved, it certainly should be."

Hugo Palmer: "I'd happily have gone and moved rails"Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Cooper was mystified that a hole had been found and said: "I'm amazed by this. We've got tens and 20s of people walking on the track every hour and no-one's gone down that today. I wonder what does cause these things?

"We do going inspections every single day, I walk this track frequently but nevertheless that is there. There have been jockeys out here, trainers, myself, the general manager, our treaders, it's amazing."

Palmer had sympathy with a track which has been staging racing since 1899 and said: "What people need to remember about racing in Britain is that we're not racing on purpose-built racecourses. If you go to Hong Kong or America, courses are StrathAyr turf, purposely laid. They're dug up every year and redone.

"This is Haydock Park, old parkland and an old racecourse. What they've discovered very unfortunately by the sounds of it is a proper sinkhole. The clerk of the course was fully up to his armpit and it went both ways. I asked him if he could fill it and he said he didn't know where it ends."

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