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16 Apr 26
15:20
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Date Joined:
18 Feb 02
Trainer James Owen has expressed his frustration after Brighton was forced to cancel its Saturday card – the track's first meeting of the season – just two hours before declarations closed on Thursday morning.
The seven-race evening card, which had attracted 132 entries, was cancelled due to a damaged racing surface caused by badgers and birds turning up the turf to feed on leatherjackets, the larvae of crane flies.
The issue was identified a fortnight ago and a treatment was applied to try to manage the number of leatherjackets. Railing off certain areas of the track was identified as another possible solution, but after officials from the racecourse and a BHA inspector walked the track on Thursday it was decided there had not been sufficient improvement to the racing surface.
Newmarket-based Owen, who was due to send four runners to the track, said: "I’m very disappointed. They obviously must have known about this before, and for it to be called off so late in the day at the declarations stage, it’s unfortunate for owners who have waited for these races.
James Owen: enjoyed a pre Breeders' Cup double
James Owen: "It’s unfortunate for owners who have waited for these races"
Credit: Edward Whitaker
"We're struggling to find new options for our runners. We’re looking at the programme and there’s not much about for them – we'll have to travel up north. With the fuel crisis, the expense of petrol is going to put extra strain on owners. I don’t think it’s very good at all the way they’ve done it.
"If they had done it a bit earlier, why couldn’t these races have been moved to another track? They don't see the knock-on effect. I would have entered a horse at Wolverhampton, but we were waiting for the Brighton race as it suited really well, and then we didn’t enter to keep owners’ costs down. It’s just unfortunate the lateness in the day, but you can’t change that now."
Tony Carroll after Bezzas Lad wins
The BetUK's Acca Club £5 Free Bet Handicap
Lingfield Pk 28.1.2023
©Mark Cranhamphoto.com
Tony Carroll: "It’s disappointing for everybody, but it can't be helped"
Credit: Mark Cranham
Tony Carroll has saddled more runners than any other trainer at Brighton and was due to send seven horses to the track on Saturday.
"It’s disappointing for everybody but it can't be helped," he said. "The same problem has happened at tracks before, like Bath and Chepstow. I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it’s been a long, warm winter, which probably hasn’t helped. I’m sure they’ve done their very best to make it happen and it’s been called off because of safety and that's the right decision."
A BHA inspector was called in by the racecourse to monitor the situation from the outset, with the initial damage to the track caused by wildlife affecting areas at the seven-furlong chute and the mile-and-a-furlong starts, which were not deemed to be an issue as they could be railed off.
With the rail movements in place, the BHA advised a reduction in field sizes to ten, which clerk of the course Jack Hastings included in a going report to ensure trainers and owners were aware.
On Tuesday, the BHA inspector deemed the track raceable for Saturday’s card. However, by Thursday morning areas of turf on the four-furlong bend had deteriorated and were no longer considered safe.
Hastings said: "It's too early at this stage to see if fixtures will be transferred, and the immediate focus is getting the track to its usual high standards for our meeting later this month. They've had issues here previously but quite a while ago, and I can't speculate yet as to why the treatment hasn't worked.
"We'll have to do a full report with an agronomist to see why our treatment hasn't been successful, but will look at doing that in the coming days. It looks like we've had to cancel very close to raceday, but alongside the BHA course inspector we were raceable on Tuesday; it was only on Thursday we saw these signs.
"There were areas of turf that you were able to lift up with your hand, and you wouldn't be able to have a horse going around at 40mph. Despite us moving the rail around, it had regressed to a point we weren't comfortable with."
The seven-race evening card, which had attracted 132 entries, was cancelled due to a damaged racing surface caused by badgers and birds turning up the turf to feed on leatherjackets, the larvae of crane flies.
The issue was identified a fortnight ago and a treatment was applied to try to manage the number of leatherjackets. Railing off certain areas of the track was identified as another possible solution, but after officials from the racecourse and a BHA inspector walked the track on Thursday it was decided there had not been sufficient improvement to the racing surface.
Newmarket-based Owen, who was due to send four runners to the track, said: "I’m very disappointed. They obviously must have known about this before, and for it to be called off so late in the day at the declarations stage, it’s unfortunate for owners who have waited for these races.
James Owen: enjoyed a pre Breeders' Cup double
James Owen: "It’s unfortunate for owners who have waited for these races"
Credit: Edward Whitaker
"We're struggling to find new options for our runners. We’re looking at the programme and there’s not much about for them – we'll have to travel up north. With the fuel crisis, the expense of petrol is going to put extra strain on owners. I don’t think it’s very good at all the way they’ve done it.
"If they had done it a bit earlier, why couldn’t these races have been moved to another track? They don't see the knock-on effect. I would have entered a horse at Wolverhampton, but we were waiting for the Brighton race as it suited really well, and then we didn’t enter to keep owners’ costs down. It’s just unfortunate the lateness in the day, but you can’t change that now."
Tony Carroll after Bezzas Lad wins
The BetUK's Acca Club £5 Free Bet Handicap
Lingfield Pk 28.1.2023
©Mark Cranhamphoto.com
Tony Carroll: "It’s disappointing for everybody, but it can't be helped"
Credit: Mark Cranham
Tony Carroll has saddled more runners than any other trainer at Brighton and was due to send seven horses to the track on Saturday.
"It’s disappointing for everybody but it can't be helped," he said. "The same problem has happened at tracks before, like Bath and Chepstow. I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it’s been a long, warm winter, which probably hasn’t helped. I’m sure they’ve done their very best to make it happen and it’s been called off because of safety and that's the right decision."
A BHA inspector was called in by the racecourse to monitor the situation from the outset, with the initial damage to the track caused by wildlife affecting areas at the seven-furlong chute and the mile-and-a-furlong starts, which were not deemed to be an issue as they could be railed off.
With the rail movements in place, the BHA advised a reduction in field sizes to ten, which clerk of the course Jack Hastings included in a going report to ensure trainers and owners were aware.
On Tuesday, the BHA inspector deemed the track raceable for Saturday’s card. However, by Thursday morning areas of turf on the four-furlong bend had deteriorated and were no longer considered safe.
Hastings said: "It's too early at this stage to see if fixtures will be transferred, and the immediate focus is getting the track to its usual high standards for our meeting later this month. They've had issues here previously but quite a while ago, and I can't speculate yet as to why the treatment hasn't worked.
"We'll have to do a full report with an agronomist to see why our treatment hasn't been successful, but will look at doing that in the coming days. It looks like we've had to cancel very close to raceday, but alongside the BHA course inspector we were raceable on Tuesday; it was only on Thursday we saw these signs.
"There were areas of turf that you were able to lift up with your hand, and you wouldn't be able to have a horse going around at 40mph. Despite us moving the rail around, it had regressed to a point we weren't comfortable with."
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