Sandown called off after three races as torrential rain leads to safety issues

The rain that trainers have been crying out for arrived at the wrong time at Sandown on Sunday, causing the course's opening jumps fixture of the season to be abandoned after three races as medical and veterinary staff at the course raised concerns about their ability to service any incidents due to waterlogged ground.

Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper deemed the track fit for racing after an initial inspection at 10.45am, although 25mm of rain through the morning meant one hurdle and five fences per circuit were omitted due to standing water.

However, a further 5mm of rain during racing forced a second inspection after race three and, while trainers and jockeys were happy to continue, the decision to abandon was taken on the grounds of safety.

"It's not just a question of the ground and is it raceable, in any situation you've got to think of the medical and veterinary vehicles," said Cooper. "Ultimately I'd say it was the latter 5mm of rain we've had through the course of racing [that resulted in the fixture being abandoned].

"We knew that was going to clear but that's taken us well into an inch plus of rain here today. If you were purely judging the ground conditions as they were at the time of the inspection, I think arguably you could say that you might just about slop through it.

"The greatest concern is the ability for us to promptly and within the required time frame, service a medical or veterinary instance on the track. There's a lot of areas of the course here at Sandown which are some way away from a road way and the ground conditions, such as they were after the running of the third race, prompted both my medical and veterinary team to raise their concerns about their ability to service an injured horse and jockey.

"When you're in that territory I don't think it's for me as clerk of the course to suggest that we should keep going. The most important thing we do is equine and human safety. What I have to consider and what the stewards have to consider are those 'what ifs?'. What would happen if something clipped heels on the bottom bend and we've got to get a medical and veterinary team to them within a minute? Then we're looking at a serious situation."

After the veterinary and medical teams raised concerns, Cooper inspected the track with riders Brendan Powell, Sam Twiston-Davies, David Bass and Jamie Moore, and trainers David Pipe, Robert Walford, Nigel Twiston-Davies and Gary Moore, but it was the stewards who ultimately ordered racing to be abandoned in the interest of safety for all participants.

Racing was abandoned after the third race won by Colonel HarryCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Cooper added: "It's hugely disappointing. I thought after a couple of races we'd probably muddle through, but there was always the possibility of further heavy showers in our forecast and they did hit us and I think that tipped us over the edge in several aspects."

Asked with the forecast suggesting more rain was to come, if racing should have been given the go-ahead after the initial inspection, he said: "Unless you're so borderline and the volume of what's going to happen weather wise is so certain, you've got to judge things how they are at the time.

"My belief was that we'd get through. I can't say I honestly regret or felt it was the wrong decision before racing. We've run three races being able to satisfy all the requirements. No concerns were raised to me until after that third race."

Trainers and riders were happy to continue based on the condition of the ground but appreciated that safety had to come first.

Bass said: "As far as the ground is concerned, we're happy, but there's an issue getting vehicles on and off the track. It's annoying but it comes down to safety and we've got to go with it."

Trainer Fergal O'Brien added: "I think it should be on personally but I only walked a bit of the course. I think all the trainers and jockeys wanted to race but the powers that be have said no.

"If they can't get the horse ambulances down there and things like that, it's the best thing for the horses. There's always another day. It would be terrible to have it on and then something happened."

The track announced a 50 per cent refund on all pre-purchased general admission tickets and urged anyone who had bought a ticket on the day to get in touch to receive the same refund. Compensation for participants who had runners in the abandoned races will be announced in due course.

Racegoer Mark Spencer from Reading said: "We should get a refund. I'm disappointed and now the weather has brightened up, it does irk a little bit. You could see on the TV where the ground looked unsafe and they are erring on the side of caution."

Albert Ross from South London added: "It's unfortunate but it's for the safety of horses and the jockeys. The conditions were atrocious and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. I think it was probably the right decision and I have absolutely no qualms."

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