Sandown goes good to soft before Eclipse - but expect conditions to change again says clerk

An overnight deluge has eased conditions at Sandown to good to soft before its showpiece Coral-Eclipse day on Saturday – but clerk of the course Andrew Cooper warned conditions are likely to change again with dry and hot weather on the way.

A total of 15mm of rainfall hit the track on Tuesday evening, leading to a largely good to soft surface with areas of good in places on the round track and soft in places on the sprint course. There is a risk of showers on Wednesday before it becomes drier before the weekend.

Temperatures are set to rise considerably towards the end of the week, including for racing on Friday, the start of the two-day meeting, when it could reach 28C on a sunny day.

Cooper said the rainfall had not caused a "deep softening" and expects the good to soft description to have changed by Thursday.

'An improving and drying picture from here on in'

He said on Wednesday morning: "We got rain but in the volume we were anticipating. We got 15mm but I saw Newbury got 25mm and Yarmouth a whopping 66mm. In terms of the ground, I'd call it good to soft but it's definitely good in places on the round track.

"It's taken the rain well but it's fallen on ground that hasn't seen any rain or irrigation for four days – in a sense it was ready to take it.

"Sometimes ground can sit as good to soft for a while but I think this will start to move back relatively quickly. I don't think it's a deep softening, it's in the surface at the top at the moment. If we were racing today I'd call it that [good to soft] but I think you'd be calling it something better than that by Thursday.

"It's going to be an improving and drying picture from here on in and we could be relatively short in that good to soft territory."

Even with the rain, Cooper said the track may still need more water before Saturday's Group 1 contest (3.40), which stars Emily Upjohn and Paddington.

"Friday is flagged up as a hot day," he said. "That's a proper drying day and Saturday may be a degree or so cooler but still humid with some risk of a shower. Between now and close of play Friday the whole outlook is likely to be dry more than anything else.

"I still think, as with any ground preparation, I wouldn't rule anything out going forwards. By the time we get to Friday night after a dry, hot day, watering to some degree might come into consideration. I wouldn't be doing my job if it didn't come under consideration. We've got to an easy side but we're still three days away."

The ground is good to soft, soft in places on the sprint course, which will be used once on Saturday for the opening Group 3 Coral Charge.

Read more:

2023 Coral-Eclipse: assessing the top contenders for the big Group 1 at Sandown on Saturday 

'I don't think we can be called the forgotten horse at all' - Owens Burrows believes in Anmaat 

'I'd say it's very possible' - Aidan O'Brien keen on Eclipse date for new favourite Paddington 

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