archie (12th December 2017)
Heavy going, slower pace, softer falls, gentler jockey, earlier pulling up.
I would far sooner allow a good chaser go in this than a cavalry charge at Gailleamh on hard summer ground.
"And still they gazed and still the wonder grew. That one small head could carry all he knew.
And that small head knew that Impaire Et Passe would win the Champion Hurdle."
The ground at Cork was so bottomless they weren't leaving a print in it, only ripples. Nobody likes conditions as extreme as this but most of the good horses were coping ok with it.
If you ask 10 trainers about the same horse, 5 will run 5 won't. It shouldn't be left to the trainers or owners, the racecourse should be responsible for having a racing surface not a `swamp`, is this organized racing or are we 200 years ago.