With the forecast temperatures over the weekend Monmore have taken steps to move the first round of both their Summer Stayers Classic & Gold Cup to the following Tuesday.
Entain’s Head of Stadia Ian Smyth said: “We picked up some noise this morning from a couple of prominent trainers who had expressed concerns over the travel in peak temperatures to get to Monmore on Saturday evening. I have then spoken to a number of other trainers who are likely to have multiple entries & the majority were in agreement that an early decision to move would be sensible on the grounds of preparing their greyhounds as well as the wellbeing of both greyhounds & kennelhands.
“The kennels at Monmore are among the best in the country and the temperatures come race time on Saturday evening are forecast to peak at 31 degrees celsius so delivery of the meeting would not be a problem. However with the anticipated entries likely to span the length & breadth of the country we have taken the early decision to move the meeting to avoid journeys of up to 5 hours during the warmest part of the day on welfare grounds.
“The first round of both competitions will now take place on Tuesday afternoon when the current bout of warm weather is forecast to have passed us by. We did consider a Monday slot but if the warm weather forecast extends just slightly it would put that date at risk and make completion of both competitions difficult. We are fully aware of the concerns over our own finals clashing with the start of the East Anglian Derby & would not seek to extend our own final dates further. As a result we will extend the deadline for entries to Friday at 12 noon.
“We expect our graded meetings to be affected as the weather gets warmer throughout the week & will assess each of those meetings on a daily basis up to & including Saturday’s cards.”
