22 May 2024 , 16:29
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Saturday’s main race meeting at Haydock is under threat from an amber weather warning.
The Merseyside venue is the day's major fixture on ITV and due to host two important sprint races, the Group 2 Temple and Sandy Lane Stakes.
But the meeting is at risk of being rained off with the track’s clerk of the course under fire for putting water on the track ahead of the fixture.
Rain arrived at Haydock on Wednesday, a day after 5mm of water was applied to the racing surface when conditions were good to firm, good in places.
As a result the going has been changed to good to soft, good in places, with rain expected to continue to the the weekend.
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“We’re currently in the midst of a large weather event,” said Haydock clerk Dan Cooper.
“There’s a mixture of yellow and amber weather warnings and the forecast really deteriorated for us yesterday in the late morning and afternoon.
“We had a difficult decision to make on Tuesday with irrigation. The decision was made in light of the forecast and we were confident in that being the right decision, but that same forecast has since deteriorated which makes the decision look questionable.
“I understand and I have to say it was made with the detail that was at hand at the time.”
Warwick had to call off its fixture on Wednesday after 42.5mm of rain left the track waterlogged in places, while heavy rain also accounted for Gowran Pstk’s Flat card.
Watering had also taken place at Warwick ahead of the meeting and the track put out a statement explaining the actions.
“The course was watered on Thursday (May 16) and Friday (May 17) due to no rain being in the seven day forecast ahead of today’s race meeting (22 May).
“No watering of the course took place over the weekend but resumed on Monday as there was still very little rain forecast, just a small shower looking likely for mid afternoon on Wednesday.
“Yesterday morning, the decision was taken to apply additional water to the course as the forecast remained dry. At 10am Tuesday a yellow weather warning was issued for the area, and the watering process was immediately stopped, with a maximum of one furlong of the track having been watered.
“Since the weather warning was issued, no irrigation has been applied to the course and we have had an unprecedented 45.5mm of rainfall since yesterday evening.”
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