Sandown prepares for season finale with watering after dry start to April

The track stages the jumps season finale, which features the Grade 1 bet365 Celebration Chase, as well as the Grade 2 bet365 Oaksey Chase and bet365 Select Hurdle. The ground was officially described as good on Sunday following a dry fortnight. Watering has been taking place since April 8, with around one inch of rainfall (25.4mm) this month. Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper stated, “The rain of March or indeed early April is a long time ago in ground terms this time of year.

We kicked off watering on April 8 and we needed to. It would be very firm ground without that. I’ve called it good as we speak, which is not a bad place to be a week out. The early and middle part of next week, through until at least Thursday, looks predominantly dry.

It may then turn a bit more unsettled with the prospect of showers at the end of the week. In general terms we’ve not seen a great deal of rain since Easter down in our corner of the south east.” Sandown hosts a Flat card on Friday, which was cancelled last season following heavy rain. The ground on the round course is good to soft, good in places, while on the sprint course it is good, good to soft in places.