York hopeful of good ground for Dante meeting with warm week forecast

Officials at York are hoping there will be some 'good' in the going description for the three-day Dante meeting after recent heavy rainfall.

Ground conditions on the Knavesmire improved on Sunday to good to soft, good in places following 32mm of rain since last Monday, but the wet weather that hit parts of Britain over the weekend is set to clear away, with mainly mild temperatures and sunshine forecast over the next few days.

Clerk of the course William Derby reported the track to be in fine shape for the meeting, which begins on Wednesday and features key Classic trials in the Dante and Musidora Stakes.

"I walked it this morning with Anthea Leigh [joint clerk of the course] and it's good to soft at the moment," Derby said on Sunday morning.

"We've had 11mm of rain in the last 24 hours and 32mm since bank holiday Monday. The course has taken the rain very well and the showers cleared through at 7am this morning. It's now bright, warm and sunny.

"The forecast is a mixture of sunshine and a chance of a shower passing throughout the week, but it'll be warm, spring weather. I wouldn't be surprised by tomorrow morning if we have some good back in the going description and start creeping back to good ground."

2021 Dante Stakes entries and betting

The Dante meeting will be York's first fixture of 2021 and Derby said the Knavesmire was well prepared for the quick change in weather conditions.

He added: "We had the driest and coldest April we've had on record. That held back grass growth and we didn't do anything to it as we always thought the rain would come. Unlike the tracks that were racing in April that had to irrigate, that left us in a good position to take the rain. We were quite pleased to see it actually."

York will miss out on the return of spectators to racecourses from next MondayCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The Dante could feature High Definition and Gear Up as they bid to enhance their claims for an open-looking Cazoo Derby on June 5, and Derby said: "The entries for the feature races look cracking. We're all looking ahead to the Classics and what pieces of the jigsaw will fall into place."

The meeting narrowly misses out on the next stage of the UK government's roadmap for easing coronavirus restrictions and the gradual return of crowds to racecourses, with spectators set to come back in limited numbers from May 17.

"It's a bit frustrating that we just miss out, but we're delighted owners can come back," said Derby. "Hopefully we can give them a great experience as they've been so important during this pandemic period."

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