The British Horseracing Authority said on Wednesday that it sees no need for a contingency plan in case unraceable ground forces the abandonment of the British Champions Day card at Ascot on Saturday, although more rain arrived at the Berkshire track during the day and the forecast until the weekend remains unsettled.
Champions Day is the richest card in British racing, with three Group One events including the QIPCO Champion Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and prize money which will exceed £4m for the first time this year. It will be staged two weeks before the Breeders’ Cup meeting in California, however, and there are no plans at present to reschedule any of the races if the card is abandoned.
“Of course we have an idea what would happen, should it become apparent that the meeting begins to be under any threat of abandonment, but that is not the case at present,” Robin Mounsey, the BHA’s spokesman, said.
“Specific, detailed contingency plans would be developed only when the situation reaches a stage where abandonment is a genuine possibility. We are in constant contact with the racecourse on this matter so we can monitor the situation and act accordingly.”
Chris Stickels, Ascot’s clerk of the course, reported that further rain had arrived at the track. “I changed the ground to soft, heavy in places [from heavy] this afternoon but since then it has started raining again,” Stickels said.
“The rain band is set to be coming through this evening and overnight with possibly sunshine and showers into Thursday. It’s an unsettled forecast all the way through to the weekend.”
Newmarket, which was the traditional home of the Champion Stakes until its switch to Ascot in 2011, has not been as badly affected by recent rain and the going on the Rowley Mile, which will stage Future Champions Day on Friday, is soft. Richard Hannon, the favourite to take over from his father Richard Sr as champion trainer in his first season with a licence, holds a strong hand in that card’s three Group One events, with Estidhkaar and Ivawood expected to start as favourites for the Dewhurst and the Middle Park respectively, and Marsh Hawk prominent in the betting for the Fillies’ Mile.
The unbeaten Lightning Moon, who had been the second-favourite for the QIPCO Champions Sprint on Saturday, will miss the race after blood tests suggested he could be carrying an infection. “I’ve had a chat with the owner and regrettably we’re going to leave it,” Ed Walker, Lightning Moon’s trainer, said.
“For the sake of one more run, it’s not worth it. Next year’s his year and it’s the end of the season and, if he was only 80% and I ran him, if he lost his appetite for it, then I would never forgive myself.”
Tony McCoy rode his 150th winner of the jumps season at Wetherby but then missed out on two more winners and the certainty of a walkover after deciding to sit out the rest of the card.
McCoy suffered a heavy fall at Worcester last Thursday but had returned to the saddle with a treble at Huntingdon on Tuesday. He could be seen wincing as he unsaddled Goodwood Mirage after a narrow success in a handicap hurdle, however, and it was later confirmed that he had suffered a recurrence of a clavicle injury he picked up in the fall.
“AP says he’s very sore,” Jonjo O’Neill, Goodwood Mirage’s trainer, said. “The fall last week would have kept normal jockeys off for a couple of weeks but he’s not normal, is he?”
McCoy will need to pass the doctor at Uttoxeter on Thursday if he is to fulfil his single booking at the meeting aboard Carningli in a novice hurdle. He also has several booked rides on Cheltenham’s first card of the new season on Friday.
