'Why water?' - Paul Nicholls questions clerk after late Bravemansgame withdrawal

Officials at Cheltenham came under criticism on Wednesday having chosen to water the course after racing on Tuesday before the track was hit with heavy rain.

The going started Wednesday as good, good to soft in places, with an average of 5mm applied from the 2m start to the winning post and down the hill on the Old course.

However, heavy rain before racing on Wednesday turned the going soft leading to the withdrawal of leading fancy Bravemansgame in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase, leaving trainer Paul Nicholls disappointed with the decision to water the ground. The rain continued and the going was later changed to heavy.

"I've spoken to the owners and Clifford Baker and the ground is going to be very attritional," said Nicholls. "If I'd have known it was going to be like this, perhaps I could have waited until Thursday over a little bit shorter.

"Aintree is a very valuable Grade 1, so we're going to go to Aintree with him. He's one for the future and it's a hard decision but my gut feeling has been telling me all day [to pull him out]. When I saw they were watering last night and with all the rain forecast, I must admit I was a little bit worried."

Heavy rain before racing at Cheltenham on Wednesday turned the going softCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Asked if he could understand why clerk of the course Jon Pullin had decided to water, Nicholls told ITV: "No, not at all. From Sunday on the forecast it was going to be a very wet day today and why water when you've got a wet day forecast?

"It's a hard job and I wouldn't want to be clerk of the course but as from Sunday it was always going to be a wet day today."

Speaking to Racing TV, Nicholls, who also pulled McFabulous out of the Coral Cup and withdrew Thyme White from the Grand Annual due to the going on Wednesday, added: "I get where they're coming from and I'm not going to argue about why they did it but on Sunday watching the Countryfile forecast, it did say it was going to be a very wet day on Wednesday across the middle of the country.

"I actually rang Dan Skelton and said I hope they're not going to do too much watering, we're going to be wet on Wednesday and we were both a bit disappointed and now it's happened and the ground has gone testing.

"You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. It's a difficult decision but it's just a bit frustrating sometimes."

L'Homme Presse jumps the last in the Brown Advisory, with Bravesmangame withdrawnCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

After racing on Wednesday, Pullin said: "The last time I looked at the rain gauge we’d had 20mm of rain. Considering the forecasts had been inconsistent through the week, some still suggesting no rain at all and others no more than 6-8mm, that's obviously a significant variance.

"The feedback from jockeys had been that the ground was quickening up rapidly by the end of racing on Tuesday and based on this we applied up to 5mm of watering selectively on certain parts of the fastest parts of the track to ensure that we started day two on safe ground.

"This was supported by a range of participants we spoke to in advance and watering produced ground that was good, good to soft in places before more persistent rain arrived.

"Jockeys and trainers have been hugely supportive and have understood the decision. We move on to the New course for the rest of the meeting and it will certainly be testing on Thursday."

The going on the New course is described as soft, with a dry and bright day forecast for Thursday.

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