Haydock ground

won't be railing around that

unless use inner track

Far too many track problems recently. Are they spending too much time on marketing and building new bars and too little on properly examining the course surface. Theret must be at least 4 tracks that have closed for repairs and cancelled or transferred fixtures. Haydock may be next. It might be possible to rail round that hole but who is to say there are not others?

its centre of the racing line they won't be

let's see if they have learnt any lessons from january

Can't help feeling watering to blame

May 23, 2026 -- 2:17PM, roggrain wrote:

Can't help feeling watering to blame

clerk ruined exeter & wincanton during his tenure there

Dan Cooper - me me me me me - its him that has saved the day? really?

Blokes arm went right in up to elbow @ least 18 inches deep!!

Last time I saw an arm get lost like that was on a dairy farm!

says its not raceable
that should be the entire course imo

don't need hugo palmer chiming in

Just fill the hole up....simple !

once again the unqualified putting forward their opinions
cull the meeting & bring the geosurveyers in ASAP

Had it ever been a mining ground? A switcheroo to another side of the track.

Anuther track not been scanned fur sink holes

Molerats

Had it ever been a mining ground?

Doesn't anybody walk the track before racing in the morning

Zipper dipsticker

Remember the Doncaster incident which ended Paul Cook's career? His mount put its foot in a hole that had appeared after drainage work. Seems similar.

May 23, 2026 -- 2:29PM, DrGordons wrote:

Remember the Doncaster incident which ended Paul Cook's career? His mount put its foot in a hole that had appeared after drainage work. Seems similar.

and cheltenham 4 months later

from what I'm seeing it doesn't look like any lessons have been learnt

alot of moving and re building rails ! Standby......

ago

maureen not happy with the ground on inside track yesterday either

remaining round course races abandoned

Racing only on the Straight Course now

2.20,4.05,5.15 races

I think Idaho put his foot in a hole too in the St Leger at Doncaster. I was on him.

Global warming innit? Or escaped prairie dogs which can tunnel well below fences.

uptheirons 23 May 26 14:39 
Racing only on the Straight Course now



Yawn,as if we didn’t know Zzzzzzzzz

If Havlin could win a race not for Gosden anything in horseracing is possible imo.

Looks like the same problem on the inner track!

Just found a hole on on that Track now

I'm right. There was a mine shaft nearby. Astute planning by tacecourse builers.

Can't race at Haydock for many a long time.

Cancel it and sack all of them - this is becoming a frequent occurrence !

I doubt you know it is Saturday,you Sweaty,Aceform

yes theres a fckn hole if you all grab a spade and fill the cnt in we can get on ffs

Kirkland and now this mug. Should be sacked on the spot.

Greg goes for cretin of the year award

Molerats in the Mineshaft,The End is Finnish

Jockeys more or less giving the finger to the officials!

inner course problems as well!!

I'd made poddy move the jolly 4.7 to 3.95
Is all his effort wastered

wondersobright • May 23, 2026 2:22 PM BST
once again the unqualified putting forward their opinions
cull the meeting & bring the geosurveyers in ASAP

any lessons learnt yet?

good ole uptheirons

Fallon Jnr looks hotheaded tbh….

1 took a false step yesterday as well according to watson but they are carrying on racing

Is there a prison nearby?!

Dont they always try to run at least 3 races to avoid refunding admission

The insurers will be watching closely. Any claim arising will be batted sideways or told to go and sling your hook.

Subject regarding Haydock for 30 years has been the ground,or drunks.

here we go again known risks being ignored gl

Tis wat happens when u put someone who cuts grass wit a push mower on french drain installation

3 races going to be run then

2 races minimum
I think
To avoid FULL refund

May 23, 2026 -- 2:58PM, wondersobright wrote:

here we go again known risks being ignored gl

what are the know risks being ignored?

Do I get my bet on Gosden’s mare refunded?!

Known risks would be the 2 big holes we have just seen on tv.

May 23, 2026 -- 3:00PM, cacique wrote:

May 23, 2026 --  2:58PM, wondersobright wrote:here we go again known risks being ignored glwhat are the know risks being ignored?

a suspected collapsed drain in the immediate vicinity

Ollie asking dan if he walks every foot of the Course , Yes takes him 3 months

nobody has any idea if there are more

Keeping the admission fee is their priority - just keep to the RH side lads !

The stalls will be placed in the middle of the track. The jockeys have been advised to stay in the middle of the track and to avoid the rails on both sides. That'll please a lot of them; one of the imponderables is no longer.

May 23, 2026 -- 3:04PM, impossible123 wrote:

The stalls will be placed in the middle of the track. The jockeys have been advised to stay in the middle of the track and to avoid the rails on both sides. That'll please a lot of them; one of the imponderables is no longer.

Which track will be next? Ascot during Royal Ascot festival?

In a 100 years a reckon there’ll be a tv program called time team,and they would have invented a machine that does geography surveys. So you can see soil movement.

But until then we can just use the going stick,but not all over the track.

Because as Dan cooper says. You can’t walk all of the track,it’s bigger than the Sahara desert,it’s just not possible.

I learnt this last month at school,just before I left then  I got this job ,has my uncle owns the track.

Brilliant.

racegoers given complimentary ticket.

May 23, 2026 -- 3:04PM, wondersobright wrote:

nobody has any idea if there are more

true, and until they raced the first race they had no idea that sinkhole was there either.....
.
If there is a collapsed drain presumably it goes across the track, or are they confident that it's approaching zero that the rest of the drain doesn't go under the course and/or is not compromised?

Like the women in the hotels who keep giving away their room keys to strangers!

Come again anytime!

Now what about my sky diver on the fortunate fav?

there will be drainage channels all across the track cacique & knowledge of the system is well beyond the remit of a clerk, groundsman etc

Great news,my mates at the track.

The new 6 bars are still open and the 18 pumps are working fine,no disruptions to beer sales.

As the track sometimes rents space to St Helens waste disposal dept,they think this might of caused the problem.

3 races left to be run at 3-20,4-00 4-50.

Never seen Owt like it

Buckets and Spades to be Given to the kids attending to help out

Haydock ground/track never been the same since the 'restorative' work about 20 years ago. They stopped racing on the outer track for a bit and moved pretty much all the races to the inner track but NEVER MOVED THEM BACK apart from todays meeting and Betfair Sprint day. Kirkland used to say it was to 'save' the ground for Betfair Sprint day.

The new clerk HAS started racing more on the outer track but only on Saturdays (flat only).

I just wonder if they aren't paying enough attention to the outer track? Today might be the first time they've raced on it since September.

khazis everywhere case

May 23, 2026 -- 3:14PM, wondersobright wrote:

there will be drainage channels all across the track cacique & knowledge of the system is well beyond the remit of a clerk, groundsman etc

..would have thought that knowledge of where the drains are, is well within the remit of the clerk/groundsman/everyone at the course.

They don't need to check all the track for safety, just on the drainage lines and intersections with the road...

I am amazed that the hole was as big/deep as it was.

would have thought that knowledge of where the drains are, is well within the remit of the clerk/groundsman/everyone at the course.

qualified in geosurveying?
because they'll need to be to after an issue of this magnitude

...just ask cheltenham

Bring back Kirkland tellwrong all is forgiven.


Hmmmm ,maybe not

are the drainage plans not on an ordinance survey map? Or did they get the local pikeys to do the plumbing and they forgot where the pipes are laid?

To happen once is unfortunate, twice someone needs to be placed.

Clerk now on racing channel with Tom Bull, he is more or less praising himself

Easily mistaken for a labour mp

expert in talking bull sh11t

talking about flow charts now lol, perfect timing

Charlie Johnston has hit out at the ongoing issues with racing surfaces this season.
He was speaking from Haydock Park on Saturday where the races on the round course were abandoned following a lengthy inspection after Friendly Soul stumbled and took a false-step after a hole opened up in the track during the William Hill Epic Boost British EBF Hedge Of Oak Stakes.
Thankfully she was reported to be sound afterwards.
And while watering played no part in the situation at Haydock Park, the Middleham trainer believes track management in general needs to be looked at closely.

Could be the fluctuation in weather. Tons of rain and then nothing for weeks/months. We had well above average rainfall in Lancashire (not far from Haydock) in Sept/Nov/Jan/Feb but it has been pretty dry since. Ground is probably knackered.

Thought the clerk was very patient with Oily. As if you could expect anyone to walk every blade of grass.

.... Even worse he mentioned the use of Drones, I know they are smart now but for spotting false ground. ??

There must be a fair chance that the issue was only exposed once horses galloped on it.

The clerk was right,how can anyone be expected to walk every blade of grass,same as Chester.
These vast expansive courses covering acres,well Half an acre of grass,be expected to check the course.

Their assessment is.

Are all the bars fully stocked,do the pumps work,does the grass look ok.

Meeting ok. We ll call it good,pipes cleaned. Beer ok.

The going stick reading of 8,means 8 pints can be poured per minute.

Meeting on.

They can t be expected to cover every blade of grass,the jockeys do that before the first race,so pointless them doing it.

Dan cooper clerk of the course stated.

I’m an expert in turf management,cos when I was a kid,I saw my dad cut our lawn in my back garden when I was at home from boarding school.so I know everything about good turf management.

The grass looked quite green,so I don’t understand why they couldn’t race.

My brother who clerks at Chester,told me. As long as it looks good,it’s good.if it looks bad,just spray it with green paint,then say it’s good.

Any problems just blame osin Murphy,that usually works.

Haydock's abandoned Saturday fixture now switched to Carlisle for ITV Racing.




Haydock have abandoned their weekend fixtures this Friday and Saturday due to the hole that appeared on the outer course on Temple Stakes day, with Carlisle stepping in.

It had been hoped that the inner course could be used for the planned fixtures on May 29 and 30, featuring five scheduled ITV races including the Group 3 Betway Lester Piggott (Pinnacle) Stakes, but that failed an inspection on Tuesday.


Haydock Park posted a statement on their X account saying: "We had hoped to stage this weekend's fixtures on the inner track after a hole appeared on the outer track during racing last Saturday.

"However, given the three days of racing already staged on the inner track in recent days, the ground will not have a chance to recover to an acceptable standard for racing this weekend.



"We are working with the BHA around next steps for the rescheduling of Friday and Saturday's races and the BHA will issue further updates on this in due course.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience that this will cause to participants and racegoers.

"External drainage specialists and agronomists are on site at Haydock Park today (Tuesday) and investigations continue into the cause of the hole that appeared on the outer track during racing on Saturday 23rd May."



Later on Tuesday it was announced that Carlisle would host Saturday's scheduled Haydock races at their track, with an eight-race card including the Silver Bowl that was abandoned last Saturday.

There will also be an extra card at Wolverhampton on Friday.

Five races from the new Carlisle card will be broadcast on ITV Racing.

Carlisle's new Saturday races:

Betway Handicap, 1m3f
Betway Reverence Handicap, 6f
Listed Betway Achilles Stakes, 5f
Group 3 Betway Lester Piggott Fillies' Stakes, 1m4f
Betway Fillies' Handicap, 7f
Betway Bet £10 Get £60 Handicap, 1m
Betway Good Luck Arsenal Handicap, 1m
Betway Silver Bowl Handicap, 1m

Maybe ask some experienced farmers for advice,bet they could teach a few tbh……

Carlisle and Wolverhampton are similar to Haydock……dreadful decision imv….

Ayr would have been a better choice imv.

Another one of my posts removed, to$$ers.

Was it cause I mentioned WATER ABSTRACTION?

Grade 1 track with the stigma…..always a bit of a quagmire during winter tbh……

Strange you don’t see many crop and vegetable growing fields with drainage issues apart from rivers bursting banks…..

Farmers are good regarding drainage tbf,don’t be proud Haydock management…..

And plenty of heavy equipment moving around on top……blah…

Haydock cancel next four meetings with two moved to Nottingham and one to Newmarket......


The next four meetings scheduled to be staged at Haydock have been cancelled as investigations continue into the cause of the hole that occurred during racing last month.

The card scheduled for Saturday June 20 will now take place at Nottingham Racecourse. The Tom Grennan concert originally scheduled to take place after racing will go ahead at Haydock Park as planned.

All ticket purchasers and hospitality guests will be contacted directly with further information about the concert and refund process.

The meeting on Thursday July 2 will also be transferred to Nottingham while the card on Saturday July 4, which features the Betway Lancashire Oaks and the Betway Old Newton Cup, will be moved to the July Course at Newmarket.

The British Horseracing Authority will announce plans for the rescheduling of racing on Friday July 3 in due course.

All ticket purchasers for the Old Newton Cup Meeting at Haydock Park will receive automatic refunds, while hospitality customers will be contacted directly by the racecourse team.



Daniel Cooper, Clerk of the Course at Haydock Park, said: “Following extensive investigations, independent experts continue to investigate the cause of the hole which appeared on the outer course, but findings suggest it may be linked to historic mining activity in the area.



“However, further work is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn and therefore, we are working closely with specialist contractors to confirm the cause and conduct the necessary remedial works in the affected area. In addition, we are utilising a Ground Penetrating Radar across the entire course to provide further information and assurance.


“Given the time required to complete these surveys, analyse the findings, and identify and carry out the necessary repairs to the outer track, we wanted to provide clarity on upcoming fixtures for all participants, members and racegoers.


“This decision was not taken lightly, and we will be in touch with all ticket purchasers and annual members to discuss their compensation and additional reciprocal opportunities available to them.”