Horse racing: Soaked Ayr abandon after three races

FOR the second time in as many months a Scottish race meeting had to be cut short due to foul weather yesterday as jockeys and trainers decided to back an abandonment at Ayr after concerns arose about potentially unsafe ground.

The meeting began as scheduled at 2.10 but, after three races, conditions deteriorated after a deluge of rainfall at the west coast course and a hastily-convened inspection led to the last five contests being called off.

A Flat meeting at Musselburgh was also abandoned after just one race on 13 September when high winds battered the East Lothian venue.

After guiding Cheyenne Red to victory in Ayr’s third race, former National Hunt jockey PJ McDonald said: “I’d say it’s the worst ground I’ve ridden on, on the Flat. I’ve ridden jumps winners that have finished quicker than we finished there.

“You are just trying to get your horse home safely, that’s the main thing. I felt my horse hit a few false patches there. It’s very borderline.”

Champion jockey Paul Hanagan and trainer Jim Goldie were among those to have assessed the track shortly before it was abandoned.

Clerk of the course Emma Marley explained: “We had six millimetres of rain this morning and heavy showers during racing on opened-up ground. There is water lying on the ground which has created a few false patches on already heavy going. It was evident that there was water on parts of the track. It’s devastating, but we can’t do anything about the weather and the right decision has been made.”

Stipendiary steward Adie Smith added: “After the first race there were one or two little hints that the jockeys were concerned about the ground, but they were happy to continue. After the third race, 99 per cent of them came in saying they were very concerned and that there were false patches of ground.”

Racegoers were not entitled to a refund as the minimum three races had been run. York