The going description on all courses at Aintree (Hurdle, Mildmay and Grand National) was today changed to Good, Good to Soft in places (from Good to Soft) ahead of the Randox Grand National Festival (Thursday 7th April to Saturday 9th April inclusive).
Watering will now take place on the Grand National course today, with 4 to 5mm of irrigation being applied.
Aintree’s Clerk of the Course Sulekha Varma explained at 4.00pm today: “We were forecast showers last night but in the end we only received 0.5mm of rain. That coupled with a dry and windy day today has seen the ground dry out and we are now Good, Good to Soft in places on all three courses.
“We have taken the decision to water just the Grand National course today and we will put down 4 to 5 millimetres of irrigation.
“The watering should hopefully take the Grand National course back to Good to Soft. We will check again in the morning before making any decisions on further watering. As always, our aim at Aintree is always to produce the best possible racing surface and we will continue to constantly monitor the situation and react appropriately.”