Forces of nature at play on racecourse

Jul 3 2009 The Journal

WHAT a difference a week makes. Seven days ago we were battling the unexpected forces of nature thrown at Newcastle Racecourse in the midst of the three day John Smith’s Northumberland Plate Festival.

The drizzle, rain and fog that arrived on Friday, despite assurances of good conditions from the meteorologists, almost tore up the script on a North East heat wave.

Thursday’s meeting went really well with great plaudits from trainers and jockeys about the condition of the racecourse and the “perfect” going.

All the credit goes to our team of six dedicated ground staff who got the place looking fantastic for the festival.

It was my decision to give the course 5mm of water on Friday morning having been informed we were due temperatures of up to 19c and only a slight chance of rain.

This was an attempt to maintain the lovely ground raced on on Thursday. Sadly our weather forecasters, who later had to eat a small portion of humble pie, got it very wrong and as soon as watering of the one-mile straight was complete the heavens opened.

Horses that wanted soft ground for Saturday’s big race had been deterred from declaring to race by the warm forecast and those who wanted fast ground had things going against them.

Sadly, the ante-post favourite for the Northumberland Plate, Judgethemoment, became an absentee due to changing underfoot conditions and then the Irish raider, Speed Time, fell victim to a last minute veterinary problem.

The last two races on Friday evening also nearly fell victim to the fog but thankfully our judge made the brave decision to conclude the meeting.

The weather may not have been spectacular on Saturday for the but after the weather endured on Friday night, a dry day was more than we could have hoped for.

The 20,000 race goers saw the day out without a single drop of rain spilling from the sky, which is more than can be said of the beer and champagne!

Som Tala’s victory in the richest two-mile Handicap in the northern hemisphere was of no surprise to the trainer and ex-England footballer, Mick Channon who is rumoured to have rung the Handicapper two days before the race to apologise in advance for winning the race. If we had known the 25/1 and 16/1 would have made for a great bookie bashing!

The course now has a month to recover before Ladies’ Day when for the first time ever we may have a total sell out for all enclosures.

I advise anyone wanting tickets for Grandstand & Paddock to book ASAP by calling (0191) 236-2020 or visiting www.newcastle-racecourse.co.uk