Newmarket hit by more than 25 non-runners after going turns heavy on second day of the Cambridgeshire meeting

The second day of Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire meeting has been decimated by 27 non-runners after the going was changed from soft to heavy.

The three-day fixture began on ground officially described as good to soft on Thursday, but that going description was changed to soft after the opening mile maiden was won by Seacruiser.

Further overnight rain has resulted in Lead Artist and Dancing Gemini being taken out of the Joel Stakes (3.35), leaving just four runners in the £125,000 feature event on Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai-backed card.

Clerk of the course Andrew Morris said on Friday morning: “We had 15mm worth of rain during racing yesterday, 10mm in that really heavy shower during the first race and then 5mm during the last race.

“Up to 9am we’ve had 34mm. The heavy stuff stopped in the early hours and then we’ve had light rain since that point. The track’s taken it incredibly well, but obviously it is now heavy ground all round.”

Troia and Ecstatic are a non-runners in the Rockfel Stakes (3.00), the other Group 2 on a seven-race card where only the 7f maiden (4.10) has more than six runners.

More than half of the 14 declared for the 1m1f handicap (5.20) are out of the finale, while the withdrawal of Enemy, Lucander, Ziggy and Quietness means that only two places are available on standard each-way betting terms in the Listed Godolphin Stakes (4.45).

Coeur D'Or and Penzance are already non-runners in Saturday’s bet365 Cambridgeshire due to the testing conditions and on the forecast ahead of the £175,000 showpiece handicap of the meeting, Morris said: “We could see a couple more light showers through to about 11am before it clears up into what promises to be a dryish afternoon and then dry through tonight and tomorrow as well.

“Newmarket does dry pretty quickly, so there could be a chance of a bit of improvement if it stays dry before racing tomorrow, but it’s not going to be anything dramatic in that way.”

Newmarket non-runners

1.50 1 Doom, 6 Noisy Jazz
2.25 1 Divina Grace, 2 Mistral Star, 6 Francophone
3.00 4 Ecstatic, 7 Troia
3.35 4 Dancing Gemini, 5 Lead Artist
4.10 3 Dragonflame, 4 Eupator, 7 Music Of Time, 8 Oceans Five, 11 Secret Theory
4.45 3 Enemy, 5 Lucander, 6 Ziggy, 7 Quietness
5.20 1 Gloucestershire, 2 Civil Law, 3 Mortlake, 4 Siempre Arturo, 5 Magnum Opus, 7 Westridge, 10 Monkey Island, 13 Shamran, 14 Beylerbeyi

Read Friday's Newmarket previews:

Course specialist Time Lock 'in great nick' for bid to repeat last year's Dubai Stakes win 

Can unbeaten Formal prove herself latest star filly for master trainer Sir Michael Stoute against O'Brien?  

'Everything looks in his favour' - expert analysis and trainer quotes for an ultra-competitive Group 2 Joel Stakes 

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