York Going

To be honest I would rather it be off. No point having it on for the sake of it in ground that is not worthy of a Group 1 contest. Maybe this might force them to reschedule elsewhere. If The Curragh was lost last Sunday, it was due to be transferred to Dundalk.
 
DAY TWO OF YORK ABANDONED

York have been forced to abandon the second day of the prestigious Ebor meeting as conditions at the track have not improved.
Heavy rain over the weekend left areas of the course waterlogged, prompting an inspection at 8.30am on Tuesday morning.
That check showed the track to be unraceable and clerk of the course William Derby called a 4pm inspection ahead of Wednesday's meeting.
However, Derby was forced to concede defeat once again, this time on a card which was due to feature the totesport Ebor.
A noon inspection will be held on Wednesday to assess prospects for Thursday.

Staff at York had worked throughout the day in a bid to ensure the track would not lose the second card of their four-day meeting.
However, their efforts were in vain with more rain set to fall.
York's head of marketing James Brennan explained: "We have made an early decision given the rain that has fallen in the last hour to abandon tomorrow's card.
"The Met Office have also issued a severe weather warning for the Yorkshire area for the next few hours and we deeply regret abandoning tomorrow.
"There will be a noon inspection tomorrow for the prospects of racing for Thursday and Friday, and we are sitting down now with all parties to work out a race programme for those two days."
 
Disappointing, lets hope they can get the best three from today and tomorrow and arrange to have a 6 card day on sat :)
 
Regardless, surely the fact that the ground will be raceable is preferable to seeing horses finish leggless in ground that at best will be heavy or if they do get a dry day or two just like tar.
 
Group races are rarely cancelled. The BHA will surely swoop in and transfer them if York can't get them run. Only last year the Lancashire Oaks was run at Newmarket!
 
There's no way any rescheduled races should be at York this week if the ground stays the same or improves slightly.

I'd agree with the proposed switch to another grade 1 track, such as those mentioned above.
 
I think this is funny as feck. Greedy courses extending tried and tested festivals just to get more corporate dollar. It happended to Cheltenham and now York. They should see the signs and revert back. There is so much average racing at the Ebor meeting that a two day fri/sat meeting would be the best possible outcome.
 
I don't think that it would be allowed to stage an extra card on Saturday at York at such short notice - what about all the other fixtures on that day and the staff/jockeys etc with arrangements elsewhere?

Beats me how Derby could have been so bullish about racing going ahead before having to abandon two days racing in a row within hours. I accept it has rained more there but he could at least have said in the first place that things might look dodgy if more rain, which was forecast after all, arrived.

I hope they don't run extra races at Newbury, that'll bugger up all my well laid plans for the weekend!
 
Judging from the photos of the course it must be unraceable for the rest of the week. I wouldn't want my 'good ground' Group horse running on such sodden ground; but a lot of the foreign-based owners might feel different - I can think of a couple who plan their whole year around the meeting

Maybe given the money involved in Group 1 and the importance of the Pattern to breeding, they should have a contingency plan in place these days, so a meeting could be transferred at short notice to the nearest comparable course. At all costs they should avoid running these Group 1 /2 horses on ground later this week which could result in serious injury or bottom them for good

But it's like "translating" poetry isn't it? - is the Juddmonte or the Ebor run anywhere but York the same race? Was the 'Welsh National' run at Newbury just a second Hennessy? - it certainly wans;t a *Welsh* National! They are only ever rough equivalents, imo
 
forecast not bad tomorrow..but heavy showers Thursday

the whole meeting is over imo

even if they race the results will be little to do with horse racing

it's a bag o rammel..but this is the wettest August on record I believe
 
Yeah the current forecast should not be an issue now....its group 1 standard racing so it should be run on Group 1 racing ground.
 
Should be interesting to see how it develops anyway. I hope the 'major' races get run later in the week, if not, next week at another track.
 
Quote:
York's clerk of the course William Derby says this week's Ebor Meeting - due to get under way on Tuesday - is not in any doubt.
Heavy rainfall in North Yorkshire has hit the Knavesmire hard in recent days, but the course is ready to open its doors to thousands of racegoers in the next four days.
The current heavy going could possibly scupper the eagerly-awaited clash between Duke Of Marmalade and New Approach in the Juddmonte International on Tuesday, but Derby has assured the public the meeting will go ahead.
He told attheraces: "The course looks in good nick despite the rain. It is heavy ground but the meeting is not in any doubt at the moment."
 
"......its group 1 standard racing so it should be run on Group 1 racing ground."

Just a hint of "elitism" surrounding that statement as well, Gal!

Are you saying that when a meeting goes ahead on dodgy ground it is alright to run Listed, Group 2 and Group 3 races, but the Group 1 races should be held over to another day?

In a perfect world, all racing should take place on perfect ground, where there are no excuses, on ground basis, for any horse.

I agree with you when the going is borderline the meeting should be called off. I was one of the few who agreed with 'Fat Al' over the Red Marauder National.

Before we get any deeper into this particular debate, perhaps it would be best if you gave your definition of "Group 1 racing ground".
 
Heavy ground is not even the issue, it is the fact that the ground has been unraceable yesterday and today and were lead to believe it could be fine for tomorrow?

It is not elitist to suggest the top class horses should race on decent ground (that does not necessarily mean fast ground), you do not run an Olympic games on a club track you do not have a Champions League final on a division 3 pitch etc
 
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