Leopardstown track watered ahead of Christmas festival racing

Watering took place at Leopardstown on Thursday with the going good to yielding on both tracks ahead of the four-day Christmas meeting commencing on St Stephen's Day, December 26.

Rain is forecast which would come as a relief to many trainers – but quite how much was unknown when the decision was made.

Clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer said: “We’ve had three millimetres of rain since Wednesday morning and the going is good to yielding on both tracks.

“The forecast is generally dry but it was unsettled then for Friday and Saturday.

He said watering took place on Thursday and it has been monitored over the last few days.

“We feel there’s plenty of kindness in the ground, but we’re effectively just trying to keep the kindness in it.”

Wyer also explained how the layout of the track has changed slightly.

“There’s a little change to the chase track regulation in previous years,” he said.

“The fence before the road crossing has gone back 30 yards and the fence beyond that has gone back 40 yards because we did a bit of levelling on take offs and landings so those fences are not in their normal positions.

“In terms of the hurdles track, for days one and two they are out wide and days three or four they go back inside.”