LIAM Holton grins ruefully, but it was all grimaces and furrowed brows as he and the rest of the management team at Punchestown considered the possible ruination of all they had done to rebuild the famed track and its National Hunt festival from the doldrums.

With the rain cascading down and no hint of a break, it was difficult to imagine any racing taking place. Whether anyone would come in the gates to watch it in such weather was a moot point but having no event at all could spell the end.