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Despite the going report still reading ‘firm, good to firm in places’, there are 195 entries for the seven race card next Wednesday.
What is interesting/telling is the lack of entries from those trainers known to be in the delegation walking the track with the decision makers on Weds.
has anything been said about the state of the ground today or does it seem to be ok?
From the Sporting Life:-
Wetherby’s much-discussed problems were soothed by a favourable reception on their first meeting of the season.
Fears over the state of the ground have this month intensified after the track was relayed and reconfigured due to the widening of the adjacent A1 motorway.
Inconsistent grass growth was attributed as the root cause behind the struggles at the popular Yorkshire circuit, due to stage the flag-bearing two-day Charlie Hall Chase meeting on October 31 and November 1.
The official going was described as firm, good to firm in places, but the general consensus was that of satisfaction.
Jockey Richard McGrath, who rode the winner of Wetherby’s first chase event since March, said: "It’s good ground and they’ve done a really good job under the circumstances."
Weighing-room colleague Denis O’Regan, also successful over fences with Ellerslie George, added: "It’s only my opinion, but the ground is fine.
"It’s mainly good, good to soft in places."
O’Regan’s boss, Howard Johnson, is not the easiest of men to please but also gave the ground his inimitable seal of approval.
He said: "I’ve walked the track – I’m too old to walk it all – but the ground was fine.
"I’d much rather run them on good ground rather than bottomless ground."
Wetherby chief executive Jonjo Sanderson was a relieved man.
Sanderson and has team have worked tirelessly in producing fit racing conditions and only last week received BHA clearance to stage Wednesday’s curtain-raiser.
He said: "It’s not ideal, but it’s getting better. We’ve received one or two bits of advice, but the jockeys have generally come back from the track with positive news.
"We’ve switched the fences and the hurdles along the straight – but the last two fences are now on the old chase track.
"Last season was what it was, but we can now look forward to the Charlie Hall meeting with confidence."
I had a little walk of the course yesterday. There were several puddles on the ground just off the track, but once on the course you couldn’t get your heel into the ground! It was as though the new drainage system is just too good. The turf coverage was very good however and the rain/watering (excessive if reports in the RP are to be believed) had given the very top layer of ground a slighlty spongy feel.
Don’t believe any time-based going calculations either- the fences and hurdles had switched places in the home straight, rendering standard times pretty much irrelevant, I’d imagine.
Yep. The back straight row of fences is now plain, ditch, plain, plain, ditch.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
They are all portables. The fences in the home straight were all portables last year as well, if memory serves, as the need to still accommodate four fences in a shorter straight led to them being repositioned slightly.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
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