Racing Continues But Key Horses Withdrawn Following Course Inspection At Chester

Racing at Chester on the second day of the Boodles May Festival was delayed by over an hour due to a course inspection.

A delegation of officials, jockeys and trainers took to the track to inspect areas of concern after several riders reported that their mounts had slipped during the first race on the card, a five-furlong handicap won by course specialist Roman Dragon.

Following lengthy deliberations, it was then announced just before 3pm that racing would continue.

However, the William Haggas-trained Morshdi, one of the favourites for the Listed Boodles Raindance Dee Stakes was immediately withdrawn, while Roger Varian also took Rahiebb out of the G3 Ladbrokes Ormonde Stakes.

Maureen Haggas told ITV Racing, “We've taken him [Morshdi] out because Tom [Marquand] is our jockey and he says it's dangerous. I value Tom's opinion.

“We had a similar situation at Haydock last year when they went ahead and raced and our horse had a horrible fall. Tom is not happy and, if you're not happy, you don't ride with any conviction, so there's no point. It's disappointing, but Morshdi has other options. It's only May.”

Ground staff at Chester were hard at work during the delay, with heaps of sand being applied to the track in an attempt to make it fit for racing.

“The stewards enquired and, after considering all the evidence, we are going to carry on racing,” said clerk of the course Eloise Quayle. “The remedial works have been deemed acceptable to participants, so we're going to continue.

“There were a lot of different factors to consider that have all been taken into account. A number of the jockeys were happy and some were less happy. Not all of the jockeys had ridden in the first race, either, and some don't have rides in the next race.

“We had a horse slip in the first race on the bend. It was a very rough and very fast race, with a lot of jostling for position. It was a five-furlong sprint with the added aspects of horses bumping and being slightly unbalanced. That was potentially going to be a factor, but there was no categorical evidence that it was necessarily ground related.

“We are going to get through the racing as quickly as possible, while keeping it operationally safe.”