Watering begins at Aintree with further irrigation before National not ruled out

Watering started at Aintree on Wednesday and clerk of the course Sulekha Varma has not ruled out the prospect of further irrigation leading up to next week's Randox Grand National meeting.

After two days of warm and dry weather, 10mm was applied to the Mildmay course and 6mm to the National course, with both tracks described as good, good to soft in places.

Varma said: "We knew we would be watering by midweek as we've had two fairly warm days. We have got another mild day on Wednesday as well as mild and dry end to the week, so we're having to irrigate to stop the track from drying out too much.

"Looking towards the weekend we're going to be colder, but largely dry until Sunday night when there are some showers around. At the moment, it's not looking like significant volumes though.

"It'll remain fairly chilly and unsettled next week and we're keeping an eye on the possibility of rain towards the end of next week during racing, but that's not looking anything more than light showers."

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Despite the cool period forecast over Easter weekend and 2-3mm of rainfall on Sunday evening, the largely dry long-range picture has left officials deliberating whether to apply further watering on the tracks before the fixture gets underway next Thursday April 8, with a decision expected to be made before the weekend.

"We'll get it done today and see where it gets us to," Varma added. "We'll reach out to the forecast tomorrow and we might look to go again on Friday or Saturday on the basis that we are staying mild and dry until the end of the week, but we'll make that decision in the next couple of days."

Varma also praised the work of her Aintree team in preparing the track to be in immaculate condition ahead of the Grand National, with staff relishing the prospect of staging the prestigious jumps race following last year's cancellation.

Groundstaff are preparing for dry conditions for the Grand National next weekCredit: Grossick Photography

She said: "It's fantastic, the whole team is really buzzing and ready to go. It's been a long 12 months for Aintree and the world at large, but we're pleased we're back doing what we do best and looking forward to getting some top-class racing on."

The Grand National will take place next Saturday April 10 at 5.15pm, with the meeting set to get underway next Thursday with high-class action across the three days, including 12 Grade 1s and the ultra-competitive Foxhunters' and Topham Chase over the National fences.

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