ROYAL Ascot regulars have had their ardour dampened by unseasonable weather, but the rain isn’t the only thing to dampen the mood in recent weeks.

First of all, credit must go where it’s due, and Ascot has coped tremendously well with the adverse weather, particularly in respect of the racing surface, which has coped well, at the time of writing, with the volume of both precipitation and equine footfall, with the expected bias against good-actioned performers not in evidence, and class prevailing more often than not in the top races.

That might be bad for the bookmakers, but it’s good news for British racing, both from a domestic viewpoint, and also internationally, with wins for Tepin and Lady Aurelia adding to the appeal of the meeting across the globe.

There was a fair degree of criticism of the new surface when the track was relaid a few years ago, but it has proven its worth this week, which has been the first time the going has veered towards soft in June in some considerable time.

How Lingfield, Leicester, Windsor and Thirsk must wish they had the same sort of durable turf, as all four have seen meetings abandoned after horses have slipped up in the past month or so, and questions must be asked about whether the turf tracks being utilised in the UK are truly fit for purpose.

That a track can need to be irrigated one day, only to become unfit for racing due to water on the surface the next beggars belief in the modern era, and while the old excuse used to be that grass could become “greasy” after a heavy shower, the recent incidents seem to be caused by false patches of ground, which are arguably the result of an aggressive watering policy advocated by the BHA.

Yarmouth had to abandon racing altogether in 2015 when the new surface was deemed unsafe, and while the track was praised for the remedial work done prior to its recent reopening, the fact that the bends were reported to have been sanded despite a lack of rain does sound a warning bell for the future, when the weather may be less kind.

Warwick have given flat racing the heave-ho entirely after the death of Artful Lady in 2014, the latest in a series of incidents involving horses slipping on the tight track, one of which left an angry Ryan Moore with a broken ankle. Leicester and Lingfield were due to race this week, but have seen those fixtures either cancelled or moved to the all-weather surface.

NON RUNNERS

Another down side to the recent inclement weather has been an increase in non-runners, with the year’s biggest Scoop6 pot reduced to a farce when a race at Stratford on Tuesday was parachuted into the bet at the last moment only for eight of the original field of 11 to defect, meaning the bet was a sitting duck for big syndicates.

Ironically, the Stratford race was not in the original schedule, but Betfred, the hapless firm now operating tote pool betting in the UK, feared that the Thirsk race which was originally in the frame would fall to abandonment after the meeting was curtailed the previous day.

All the while, the seemingly predictable St James’ Palace Stakes, which had been culled by Betfred’s boffins, ended up going to Galileo Gold, who was only third choice among punters, and would have produced not only a much bigger dividend, but also much greater coverage for the bet in general.

The best laid plans of mice and men, eh?

Not all non-runners are due to the changing ground, of course, and the usual spate of high-drawn horses at tracks like Chester have come over all weak and feeble on raceday, thereby spoiling lots of races for punters playing each-way, not to mention more exotic bets like the jackpot and placepot.

There was predictable consternation earlier this week when Hepworth Marble won at Lingfield only a day after having missed another engagement with a veterinary certificate.

Of course, it’s possible that what might stop a horse from running on Wednesday may not stop it winning on Thursday, but there is a rule in place which stops horses with self certificates running within 48 hours, and it’s reasonable to expect the same with veterinary certificates.

There are too many opportunities for trainers to reroute their charges to easier targets due to the congested fixture list, and the system is clearly open to abuse, while the notion that a vet’s signature automatically turns a dubious withdrawal into a kosher one is naïve.

It’s nice to see that the issue of non-runners has again been raised by the Horserace Bettors Forum, although it’s less encouraging that attempts by that body to get responses to reasonable questions on other subjects are often met with silence.

Most recently from unnamed bookmakers on the subject of betting account closures/restrictions, but that’s a subject for another day...