'It's not good enough' - Gordon Elliott slams Leopardstown ground

A lack of moisture in the ground and a number of significant non-runners has once again threatened to overshadow the Dublin Racing Festival and prompted trainer Gordon Elliott to slam the situation as "not good enough".

Last year 22 horses were pulled out on the second day of the fixture, this year worth €2.1 million, for ground-related reasons, with six of the declared runners in the Irish Gold Cup scratched because of the drying conditions, which left a field of just four to go to post.

And on Saturday, the Henry de Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard was withdrawn from the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase due to a change in going – from yielding, yielding to soft in places, to yielding.

De Bromhead confirms likely Cheltenham target for Dublin absentee A Plus Tard

Fakir D'Oudairies was also withdrawn from the ERSG Arkle Novice Chase by Joseph O'Brien for the same reason, likewise Noel Meade's Ice Cold Soul from the Matheson Handicap Chase.

Elliott's only withdrawal from the card was Sire Du Berlais for the same reason, but he indicated a decision would have to be made about Delta Work's participation in Sunday's Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup.

Delta Work: not a certain runner in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup on SundayCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"It's not good enough," he said after Eclair De Beaufeu's Matheson victory.

"I don't like giving out, and I've only taken one out today, but going forward it's disappointing to think that this is our Olympics and this problem has been flagged for the last 12 months.

"Everyone has a job to do and [clerk of the course] Lorcan Wyer has had a headache with it all, but it's not something that has just happened overnight.

"If there was gallons of water put on the ground and it was soft to heavy, we're all National Hunt people, and there wouldn't be too many disappointed.

"We are here in Ireland and in this job we are the best in the world at what we are doing – training these horses, the jockeys and the breeders and so on. So if we haven't got these horses to go to Cheltenham, it'll be a worry. We have world-class horses here and it's disappointing to see horses having to be taken out."

Clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer: 'Our aspiration was to have no good in the going'Credit: Patrick McCann

The chase track had been watered selectively and the objective was not to have the word good in the going description. That process ceased on Friday, but just 1mm of the 2mm of rainfall forecast overnight into Saturday materialised. A strong wind that blew throughout Saturday exacerbated the drying process, according to Wyer.

"We felt yesterday morning that there was sufficient moisture in the track to hold it as it was," he said on Saturday. "We were satisfied with where we were yesterday morning. That was a raw wind today – it didn't help us. So we ended up where we are with yielding ground.

"It's subjective but as far as I am aware plenty riders agree with that. Would we have handled it any differently in hindsight? I don't know – I'll let other people judge that."

Of preparations for Sunday, he added: "Our aspiration was to have no good in the going. Right now it's yielding and we will be doing selective watering after racing. That, combined with the 4-5mm of rain forecast, we'll see where that leaves us."

Meade: it isn't soft enough

Robbie Power agreed with the description of yielding. Meade, while sympathetic to the authorities' dilemma, agreed with Elliott that more water should have been applied.

"It's fine for some horses, but we are trying to make this a winter festival and for a lot of horses it isn't soft enough,” he said.

"These are winter horses. I haven't got Road To Respect here and the reason for that is because he got injured here at Christmas. They had plenty of warning, I suppose.

"Last year I was against watering ahead of this festival but this year when we realised what had happened and it was drying up again, you have to think that it should be easier than it is.

"I do have sympathy for them as well. I'm not jumping up and down about it because I know it is a thankless job and it's not simple, but it's unfortunate that we are back where we were with horses being withdrawn."

More ground-related stories:

Leopardstown to start selective watering next week with dry weather forecast

Meade urges Leopardstown to water ahead of Dublin Racing Festival

Read exclusive previews for day two of the Dublin Racing Festival from 6pm on Saturday on racingpost.com and the Racing Post mobile app