Racing survived the cold at Southwell on Friday as an average of four runners per race lined up for seven ‘jumpers bumpers’ races, but the course was forced to defend itself against criticism that “money is being put before people [and] horses” owing to the difficult conditions on the road for those heading to the track.
Fifteen of the 43 declared runners were withdrawn, for the most part because their horseboxes could not get to the course.
Paul Struthers, the chief executive of the Professional Jockeys’ Association, used Twitter to lambast the decision to go ahead with the meeting. Quoting a tweet from the Met Office warning that people should “only travel if absolutely necessary,” Struthers said: “ … tough to argue that racing today is necessary. Shame money is being put before people/horses.”
David Thorpe, the chairman of Arena Racing Company, which owns Southwell, responded to Struthers on Twitter, saying his comment was “not helpful”, while Susannah Gill, ARC’s director of external affairs, also defended the course’s decision. “Our team at Southwell, led by clerk Roderick Duncan and estates manager Simon Davies, have monitored and worked the track 24 hours a day since Monday, when temperatures first dropped,” Gill said. “Having spoken to trainers on Friday morning who already had horses on the way to the racecourse, we were happy to proceed in order to ensure those horses who wanted a run could make the most of the opportunity.”
Later on Friday, Struthers appeared to back-track on his earlier criticism, again using Twitter to state: “Sounds like I got it wrong this morning - if you’re going to be gobby you’ve got to be big enough to admit when you weren’t right, and it certainly appears that way regarding @Southwell_Races today.”
There will be no National Hunt racing in Ireland until Thursday at the earliest, which is likely to limit the options for Ruby Walsh as he plans his return to the saddle after nearly four months out with a broken leg.
Walsh, who had hoped to return to action in February following a fall at Punchestown on 18 November, said recently in his blog on the Racing UK website that he is “riding a couple of horses a day,” but he will be keen to hone his race-fitness with some rides in public before the Cheltenham Festival opens on 13 March.
A meeting at Navan which was originally scheduled for Saturday has now been moved to Thursday, while the two-day fixture at Leopardstown on Sunday and Monday, when a number of leading Irish trainers were expected to exercise Festival contenders after racing, has been replaced with a single card the following afternoon.
