Break in wet weather boosts hope of good ground for Leopardstown card

Dry weather yesterday has raised hopes of an improvement in conditions ahead of Leopardstown’s stellar jumps meeting on Sunday, featuring the Hennessy Gold Cup among four Grade One races.

“We’ve had a fabulous day today and we’ll have an update on the going in the morning before declarations. It’s hard to say the level of improvement we’ve had, but I’d say we’ve had some,” said racing and operations manager Nessa Joyce.

Meanwhile, excellent drainage is helping Newbury deal with the rain as the valuable Betfair Hurdle meeting approaches tomorrow.

While the ground is described as heavy, a forecast dry today is timely.

“We’ve had rain today (7.6mm up to 4pm) and are due for a bit more, but not too much more,” said clerk of the course Richard Osgood. “At the moment we’ve got no problems, especially if we get a nice dry day tomorrow which they are talking about – with this place when you get a day’s drying it can do wonders. We’ve got gravel underneath us and it seems to go straight through it.”

The ground is described as soft at Warwick ahead of the fixture that includes the Star Sports Kingmaker Novices’ Chase.

Rain was forecast overnight into Friday with 10mm-15mm possible before a dry spell during daytime hours and further showers on race day.

Britain’s other Saturday jumps card at Uttoxeter hinges on an 8am inspection on Friday.