MAJBOROUGH, Mighty Park and Uncle Pad might have been high-profile, going-related non-runners on day one of the Navan Racing Festival, but Gordon Elliott expressed his complete satisfaction with ground conditions and praised the team at the Co Meath track for their watering.

The popular weekend got under way on ground described as yielding, yielding in places on the hurdle course and yielding, good to yielding in places on the chase track. A total of 1mm of rain had fallen overnight and watering had been ongoing through the lead-up to the meeting.

Willie Mullins opted to withdraw three of his four runners over fences mid-way through the card, inclduing a pair of short-priced favourites, and Elliott decided against running Staffordshire Knot in the Lismullen Hurdle, along with his highly-touted bumper prospect Uncle Pad. However, the Cullentra handler still saddled 17 other runners on the card and emerged with a hat-trick of winners, as well as five seconds.

Asked about conditions towards the end of day one, Elliott said: “The ground is the way it’s described. Nobody minds that. Navan have done a wonderful job on the track and it’s riding exactly the way they have described it.

"You bring your horses here and make your decision as to whether you want to run them or not, but the ground is accurately described. You couldn’t be happier with what Navan have done.”

There is a possibility of a further 2-4mm approximately due at Navan on Saturday night.