The Newmarket going, ahead of the big Cambridgeshire Handicap fixture on Saturday will be kept a close eye on by horse racing fans after a deluge of rain at the track in the last few days.
What Is The Newmarket Going For Saturday’s Cambridgeshire Handicap Meeting?
The UK horse racing headquarters at Newmarket was hit by 15mm worth of rain during racing on Thursday and with more of the ‘wet stuff’ falling at the track on Friday, it was no surprise to see the Newmarket going change from ‘good’ to ‘heavy’ in the blink of an eye.
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.” Clerk of the Course Andrew Morris told the Racing Post
Newmarket Already Seen A Lot Of Non-Runners Due To The Ground
As a result, there were a stack of Newmarket non-runners for the racing on Friday and with many horses expected to run on Saturday that won’t like soft/heavy ground, we can expect more horses to be pulled before the weekend.
Newmarket has been staging it’s three day Cambridgeshire Meeting, which started on Thursday 26th September and climaxes with a high class 7-race card on Saturday.
The weekend card includes the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes for some of the best 2 year-old fillies around, plus also the Group One Middle Park Stakes – where all eyes will be on the Aidan O’Brien-trained Whistlejacket as the horse looks to give his handler his eighth success in the race.
However, the big betting race on the day is the ultra-competitive Cambridgeshire Handicap at 3:40pm – with a maximum of 35 runners will be competing for the £90k first prize.
The course forecast looks better for Saturday, but it’s unlikely to be enough time to dry out the ground much. Therefore, proven horses with soft or heavy winning form are sure to be well punted in the Cambridgeshire Handicap.
RELATED: Which Cambridgeshire Handicap Horses Will Like Soft and Heavy Ground?
Newmarket Going:
- HEAVY
- Going Stick: 5.2
- Weather: Showers, but drier outlook expected for Friday night and Saturday
Note: Newmarket going correct at 14:21pm Friday 27th Sept but subject to change
RELATED: Key Cambridgeshire Handicap Trends To Help Find The Big Newmarket Winner
Newmarket Weather Update
With heavy rain in the Suffolk area over Thursday and Friday this has led to horse racing fans having a close eye on the Newmarket weather as the meeting heads into its final day on Saturday.
However, there is some good news as the rain is forecast to stop on Friday afternoon and the track are then looking at a dry day on Saturday.
This will, of course, give the course a bit of time to dry out, but with there being racing already on the track on soft/heavy ground on Thursday and Friday, then many are predicting the damage to be done and there to be very ‘tacky’ conditions come Saturday.
Clerk of the Course, Andrew Morris went onto say.
“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.”
