Watering continues and more could follow on the night before the Grand National

Aintree clerk of the course Sulekha Varma oversaw watering after the opening afternoon of the Randox Grand National festival as work continued to keep underfoot conditions at good to soft for the second day of the meeting on Friday.

All horses and riders returned safe and sound after Thursday's seven races, which took place on a surface that jockeys believed matched the official description.

Varma said: "We're going to put 3mm of water on the Mildmay and hurdle courses, and 3mm of selective watering on the Grand National course with a view to maintaining the ground.

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"There is the chance of a shower overnight but not enough for us to have the confidence it would do what we would need it to do to keep the ground as we want it to be.

"The jockeys described it as good to soft or the slow side of good today and they gave lots of very positive feedback, so we're really pleased."

Confirming that further irrigation could take place after racing on Friday, Varma added: "I wouldn't be surprised if we were watering again, particularly if the wind whips up as it did today."

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