Storm Darragh threat to high-profile weekend cards

Sandown’s Betfair Tingle Creek Chase meeting and the Boylesports Becher Chase fixture at Aintree on Saturday must pass precautionary inspections due to the threat of high winds from Storm Darragh.

Clerk of the course at Sandown Andrew Cooper is concerned about forecast gusts of up to 50mph during racing and will check conditions at 7.30am.

“We’re expecting it to remain dry during racing on Friday before rain gets to us in the early evening. That will clear overnight, but that will bring increased winds,” said Cooper.

“There are some suggestions the winds will be at their strongest at around midday time – and gusts of up to 50mph plus, possibly from first thing but certainly from mid-morning.

“A few of us have been kicking this situation around for 48 hours and the common consent seems to be that 50mph seems to be the tipping point, and arguably 45mph.

“You’ve got to take into account all aspects of putting on a day of racing, not just from an equine and rider point of view but for the public as well. All racecourses tomorrow are in that ball park.

“Because of that we’ll have a precautionary inspection at 7.30am and take it from there.”

It is a similar scenario on Merseyside where, despite the ground likely to ride testing, the rain is not a real cause for concern but very strong winds are. As a result a precautionary inspection will take place at 7am.

Aintree’s clerk Dan Cooper said: “We’ve got an amber warning in place for high winds.

“The difficulty is there is a slight lull at the time we’ll be doing the course walk in the morning, it’s looking relatively manageable (then) so the difficulty is do you begin predicting what is to come?

“The rain, going-wise, is OK, but the wind is the big threat and if we get to what is forecast (50-60mph guts) then there certainly will be some safety elements to consider. It’s a tricky forecast for us all.

“The mean average looks like we can manage, but the gusts are tricky, and there’s no forecast as to how often the gusts are, you don’t know they are coming until they are on top of you”

Chepstow, which stages the Welsh Grand National Trial, will hold a precautionary inspection at 7.30am.

The going is currently soft and rain is forecast but the danger is once again the prospect of strong winds.

Wetherby inspect at 3pm on Friday due to standing water in the back straight. Should that recede in time there is then the danger of high winds on Saturday.