RACING at Ayr tomorrow (Sat) – William Hill Ayr Gold Cup Day - has been abandoned following an early morning inspection by Chris Dennis, BHA Northern Course Inspector, PJ McDonald, the Northern Jockey Safety Officer and Ayr Racecourse officials. Although there has been marginal improvement in the Area affected two and a half furlongs out it was clear to them that there was no option but to abandon the remainder of the meeting.
The track was perfectly raceable on Wednesday but the rainfall on Wednesday evening into Thursday morning of 17mm – just under three quarters of an inch – led to this problem. There is a further 6mm of rain forecast today.
An unprecedented total of 180 mm – seven inches - of rain had fallen at Ayr in the past five weeks. The rest of the course was heavy but racecable and work will start immediately to determine whether there is an underlining problem at the two and a half furlong marker.