Fakenham’s scheduled fixture on Friday was cancelled due to concerns about the safety and well-being of the horses.
The condition of the ground was evaluated by a BHA course inspector and Fakenham officials on Monday. The assessment revealed that the ground had received only 6mm of rain in the last four weeks, and due to the prolonged dry period, the ground had become hard, possibly even firmer in some areas. Without irrigation licence until March, and no rain forecast in the near future, the decision was made to cancel the meeting.
Clerk of the course David Hunter was part of the evaluation team and expressed disappointment that the meeting had to be called off.
“In 25 years, I’ve not seen the ground this quick in February. It’s very quick and we can’t irrigate until March 1. It’s very dry with no rain forecast this week, apart from possibly 2-4mm on Thursday evening, but that will be too little too late.”
Fakenham is not the only racecourse affected by the dry spell as other courses like Catterick on Monday, Hereford on Wednesday, and Leicester on Thursday have all been experiencing similar conditions.
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