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“I would have thought it should be possible to publish the historical going stick readings for each racecourse to see how the going descriptions compare”
Turftrax do precisely that, you can find the figures here:
Looks like good to firm ground isn’t allowed at Chester, in fact you would struggle to get good. According the jockeys and trainers this week, the ground has been on the slow side of good all week, following extensive watering prior to and during the meeting. Jim Crowley before winning on El Burhan said the distance was probably too short but the slow ground would help. You could see them kicking it up, especially down the back.
What happened to the BHA’s directive to only water to produce good to firm ground? The COC at Chester is clearly ignoring this and the inept BHA do absolutely nothing.
What hope is there for fast ground horses at Chester’s big meeting if the fastest ground they can have is the slow side of good, and if it rains like it usually does, much softer. Great weather for weeks but still can’t have fast ground, it’s ridiculous.Some of the rails had to be moved before the opening race at Haydock because of a false patch of ground.
There hasn’t been any rain in this neck of the woods for weeks, so how much water has been poured onto the track?
Lingfield’s watering policy seems to have been determined by Environment Agency’s local restriction on water abstraction. I presume the course take a supply from the Eden Brook or one of the nearby water courses. They were stopped from taking a supply during April, but allowed to draw water in the last week or so. Quick ground doesn’t seem to be a problem.
York COC has just said they’ve put the stalls on the far side on the sprint track to help the 2yo’s, give them a rail to run against. If that’s the case why not put the stalls in the centre for the older horses? 5 sprint races for older horses at the meeting compared to 3 for the 2 year olds. There was quite a lot interference on the far side yesterday and according to reports the ground was good not good to firm. Courses just wont produce good to firm ground as they’re directed to by the hopeless BHA. Chester was a disgrace last week.
Here is a question.
In a period of drought, such as this, should racecourses be permitted to water more than a week in advance of a meeting?
I have my doubts about the utility of watering more than a week in advance. With the evaporation rate being so high, surely water isn’t remaining in the ground more than a few days?
Don’t the times suggest the York going today was Watered good ground! Why is it being described as Good to Firm (Good in places) Did the jockeys agree it was good to firm
Some years back (I want to say 2007?) Nashville, Tennessee had its worst flood in over 50 years. Several feet of water covered much of the city.
One warm and sunny week after the deluge, Nashville’s Percy Warner Park held its Iroquois Steeplechase on perfect firm turf.
Watering more than a few days ahead of time is futile, I’d say.
I was reading an article on how the UK’s climate is changing and, with my racing hat on, this paragraph in particular stood out:
“Rainfall patterns fluctuate much more than temperature, the Met Office says, but it finds that, as well as warming up, the UK is also getting wetter, with rainfall increasing significantly during the winter. Between October and March, rainfall in 2015-2024 was 16% higher than in 1961–1990, it says.”
If our winters are getting wetter but racecourses continue to overwater during the summer, be prepared for bottomless ground and more fixtures getting abandoned during the National Hunt season.
The article is available here, if anyone is interested:
An interesting report from Kempton posted today, prior to their first NH meeting next Sunday:
“Watering: We commenced watering on July 1st 2025. We applied 20mm of water per week to maintain plant growth. We intensified the irrigation program on October 1st, applying 40mm per week. We will apply a further 80mm of water in four applications before Sunday October 19th 2025.
They do have the advantage of the large gravel pit to provide a supply of water. Even so, I’ve never seen a CoC admit to planning to apply that much in a week.
I can understand watering the NH course in July re plant growth but you would have thought that 40mm and 80mm are amounts that should have been applied during that particular time of the year (i.e. summer) rather than in October (Autumn), when the ground would be more receptive to retaining moisture much more easily due to the cooler temps.
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