There was no advance watering of the section of Leopardstown on which Saxon Warrior and Alpha Centauri raced on Saturday, a racecourse official confirmed on Monday. The decision was taken at the end of last week to water the inner track, which was used for Saturday’s first four races, but not the outer track, on which both those star three-year-olds suffered career-ending injuries.
Pat Keogh, the chief executive of Leopardstown, added that the absence of forecast rain at the course south of Dublin had been a complicating factor in preparation of the turf last week but insisted there was no reason to think the ground was anything other than safe on Saturday. He said he had heard of no complaints from horsemen other than those made by the trainer Ger Lyons, who published criticisms through his website on Sunday.
“We pulled out three of our intended runners as the ground was far too quick with an awful cover of grass,” Lyons wrote. “The ground was without question the fastest that we’ve raced on at Leopardstown this summer.”
“We were expecting more rain last week,” Keogh said. “There was supposed to be a few millimetres each day and it didn’t arrive. Having said that, we were very happy with the condition of the track. It was proper, good to firm ground and I think that’s the kind of ground you expect for a day of championship Flat racing.
“I had compliments from people that walked the track. I have great respect for Ger as a trainer but I could not agree with him about the covering of grass.”
Keogh added that the inner track was felt to be drier than the outer track at every stage during the week, which led to the decision to water it on Friday. “We gave it a few millimetres. The outer track would have got the benefit of some of the watering going on around it.”
While Leopardstown staged an exhilarating day of top-class action, it came at a cost. The very popular Alpha Centauri, a winner in Britain, France and Ireland this year, was found to have a bone chip in a fetlock joint after the Matron Stakes, while Saxon Warrior was diagnosed with a damaged tendon on the morning after the Irish Champion Stakes. Dermot Weld’s Making Light, the beaten favourite in another race on the outer track on Saturday, was reported to be lame by the racecourse vet.
But even in light of her injury Alpha Centauri’s connections express no reservations about Leopardstown. “In our team there were no negative comments about the ground,” said Alan Cooper, racing manager for the filly’s owners, the Niarchos family.
Lingfield
1.30 Capla Gilda 2.00 Annecy 2.30 Asaatier 3.00 Arctic Haze 3.30 Margub 4.00 Unveiling 4.30 Groveman 5.00 Queen Adelaide
Yarmouth
1.50 Molly Mai 2.20 Magic J 2.50 Protected Guest 3.20 Long Call 3.50 Just Us Two 4.20 Heavenly Guest 4.50 Equimou
Redcar
2.10 Harperelle 2.40 Schnapps 3.10 Caridade 3.40 Mr Strutter 4.10 Knighted 4.40 Field Gun 5.10 Emperor Sakhee 5.40 Barney George
Kempton
5.30 Dream Catching 6.00 Little India (nb) 6.30 Delicious 7.00 Wufud (nap) 7.30 Petrastar 8.00 Port Of Call 8.30 Swordbill
“I walked the track with Pascal Bary and Stephane Pasquier, who were there with Study Of Man. They were very pleased with the state of the track. It was a decent covering of grass.” Meanwhile Aidan O’Brien, trainer of Saxon Warrior, described the Leopardstown ground as “lovely”.
Lyons felt it was a mistake for Leopardstown to divide Saturday’s card between the two circuits. “The reason they started having the two tracks was so they could water one and leave the other,” he said. “Then, if we got an absolute load of rain, they could switch the racing to the unwatered track. They seem to have forgotten that. They think it’s clever to switch tracks halfway through the day. But if you’re going to automatically race on both tracks, you should water both.”
He said the condition of Leopardstown on Saturday was the more surprising because the course had presented “beautiful ground” during the summer’s prolonged dry spell. He ran two “light-framed two-year-old fillies” in an early race on the inner track but did not want to risk heavier, older horses later on the card.
