Racing

Curragh forced to cancel meeting due to waterlogging for the first time in 16 years

Group Two Minstrel Stakes switched to Thursday’s Leopardstown fixture

Heavy rain has forced Curragh Racecourse to cancel a fixture for the first time in 16 years due to waterlogging. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/©INPHO
Heavy rain has forced Curragh Racecourse to cancel a fixture for the first time in 16 years due to waterlogging. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/©INPHO
Sun Jul 23 2023 - 19:00

Stark evidence of the climate emergency came on Sunday when the Curragh was forced to cancel a fixture for the first time in 16 years due to waterlogging.

A card featuring the Group Two Romanised Minstrel Stakes couldn’t be run after a morning inspection found the track unraceable.

Heavy rainfall that began just after Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks won by Savethelastdance didn’t let up until nightfall.

Although track officials were “gutted” at the cancellation they were also relieved the classic action got run off.

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“On the overall run of things, we were blessed because that rain that came from about 4pm onwards was forecast for the morning. It rained non-stop from about 4.30pm to 9pm last night and if that came in the morning, then who knows,” the Curragh chief executive Brian Kavanagh said.

Losing a fixture at the height of summer underlined the impact of climate change but the last meeting lost at the Curragh also occurred at this time of year in 2007.

A Saturday card was cancelled due to heavy rainfall and to ensure the following day’s Irish Oaks could get run. The classic was won by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Peeping Fawn.

“We’ve had six inches of rain here since the Derby and the average rainfall for the month of July is supposed to be just over two inches.

“The real difficulty is that it’s coming so quickly. It’s not the volume of rain but that it comes in such a short time. It means it has nowhere to get away on the track,” Kavanagh said.

The Curragh date has been rescheduled for August 13th, the day after the Group One Phoenix Stakes card at HQ.

However, Horse Racing Ireland has confirmed the Minstrel Stakes will be run at Leopardstown’s this Thursday to form an eight-race card at the Dublin course.

The other black-type event, the Group Three Rathbride Filles Stakes, has been transferred to this Saturday’s Gowran programme.

In return, the Listed Hurry Harriet Stakes, due to be held at Gowran on August 16th, has been transferred to the rescheduled Curragh meeting three days earlier.

Ballinrobe has a flat meeting on Monday where conditions are set to be soft but with no threat to action going ahead.

Jockey Ben Coen returns from suspension with four rides at the Co Mayo track and the 2022 Imperial Cup winner Surprise Package is the last of them in the concluding maiden.

Peter Fahey’s runner returned from 15 months out of action with a run on the flat in Leopardstown recently.

The high-class hurdler didn’t run badly before fading in the closing stages behind Jesse Evans.

Although there’s always a fear of a ‘bounce’ element in such circumstances this isn’t a strong contest with the 73-rated Banned looking the most likely danger.

Shane Foley’s mount Qasbaz has got a 9lb hike in the ratings for landing a race at Navan on soft going recently but is clearly in good enough form to go close in an earlier handicap.