PNicholls

Uttoxeter inspected last Thursday morning because of the threat of frost. But in my opinion they have far longer term problems than the recent cold spell - namely the heavy ground there.

Trainers such as Alan King, Nicky Henderson and Oliver Sherwood spoke about the ground there in less than glowing terms earlier in the week, and I have to say I agree. Uttoxeter have to make their minds up whether they are a summer track or a winter track. But they can't have both, and it seems to me that greed is why they currently attempt to.

You can't put hundreds of gallons of water on the ground during the summer to keep it race-able and then expect to maintain decent ground when the rains arrive later in the autumn and winter.

Because the ground there is consistently heavy as a result.

I have been sending my horses there far less in recent years, and to be honest I have pretty much given up on the course. I only had one runner there last season - ironically it won - and just two this. And unless something is done, I probably will ignore their fixtures in the future.

I read that the Uttoxeter team are considering spending 50k on drainage. But if they didn't race and, therefore, water so much in the summer it simply wouldn't be a problem.

Maybe if they had half as much racing, then they could have twice as much prize money. And they could put the 50k drainage money towards the prize money pot, too.

So, make your minds up, Uttoxeter.

Or else you may find that many trainers will become strangers.

Read Paul's exclusive articles, including his views on his weekend runners, every Friday at http://betting.betfair.com/horse-racing/paul-nicholls/