Ayr racecourse finally gave up the unequal struggle yesterday morning when they abandoned the final day of the Western meeting.
The track had already cancelled the first two days of the fixture, due to a waterlogged area in the home straight, but had hoped to save today’s showpiece card which had the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup as the highlight.
Having elected to cancel yesterday’s card at 7pm on Thursday night, and proposed an inspection for noon yesterday to further assess conditions, course officials took the early decision after the problem area on the track had not shown the required improvement overnight and more rain was forecast.
Having been “hopeful” on Thursday morning about the chances for the final two days of the meeting Graeme Anderson, the clerk of the course, was left facing a less palatable reality and difficult questions to be answered.
"We have a false patch of ground around two and a half furlongs out and it is just not improving. It is just mud and moving around, it's not safe,” he said. "If it was an isolated patch we could move rails to avoid it but it's halfway across the track. It hasn't improved and we're forecast up to six millimetres of rain today.”
The racecourse executive spent much of the day engaged in discussions with both the race sponsors and the BHA regarding the possibility of rescheduling the card, although any hopes of it being staged on Sunday were quickly ruled out.
"People are talking of Sunday but before we get into the logistics of that the forecast for Sunday is even worse,” Anderson said. "It's not warm, there's barely a breeze so the four hours between now and noon wouldn't make a difference."
Officials were also busy investigating the potential causes of the problem. Both Richard Fahey and Tim Easterby had alluded to a possible issue with drainage when they walked the course on Thursday and Easterby said that the track was in "absolutely magnificent condition apart from one place where the drain has bubbled up."
Last July two sprint races were abandoned due to a collapsed drain on the straight course, but not in the same area as the current waterlogged patch.
Richard Wayman, Chief Operating Officer for the BHA, said: “The BHA has been working with Ayr to consider alternative options for staging a replacement meeting in the coming days. However, the agreed position between the racecourse and the BHA’s course inspectors is that the condition of the turf and the prevailing weather conditions make it extremely unlikely that the course would be in a position to stage a replacement race meeting in a short timescale.
“We are doing the best we can to try to save the Gold Cup itself, which is such a valuable race for horsemen and important betting event. We will provide an update on this as soon as we are able to.
“Separately, the BHA has requested a report from the racecourse executive regarding the circumstances surrounding the last few days, including exactly what the issue with the track is, what has caused it, what procedures are in place to address the issues, their prospects of racing at other forthcoming fixtures and the communication around the fixture cancellations.”
Full refunds will be made to all ticket holders for any of the three days however racegoers are still welcome to go to Ayr today for free on production of a ticket for the meeting.
The course will be opening the doors at 11am and showing racing on big screens from Newbury, Newmarket and Catterick with betting facilities available.
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