Aintree Racecourse clerk of the course Sulekha Varma says conditions at the track are in a 'good place' ahead of the start of the 2022 Randox Grand National Festival.
The ground at Aintree has been changed to good to soft on all courses on Monday morning following 7.5mm of rain overnight on Sunday. The Grand National course has been changed from good to soft, good in places and the Mildmay (chase and hurdle) has also been changed from good, good to soft in places.
Varma was pleased with the rain and believes the course is in ideal condition ahead of the start of the three-day meeting on Thursday.
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She said: "We are not expecting a deluge, but certainly expecting rain over the next couple of days. There is still some uncertainty in the forecast. We had a good drop of rain – 7.5mm last night – which has been a huge help, as we have been pretty much dry since March 11.
"We had that hot period as well, when the ground staff were out there in shorts and tee-shirts. It is breezy now as well. We are expecting a dry day today and there might just be the odd shower around. It's a nice place to be at this point of the week and we're in a good place from a natural point of view."
Officials decided against watering on Sunday due the forecast, but they had put 5mm on Friday and Saturday. On whether further watering may take place throughout the week, Varma added: "It looks like there is more rain coming tonight. The challenge is the forecasts are all different.
"They are slowly coming together to a bit more of a consensus, but we are not quite there. We are expecting another 3mm-6mm tonight and showers on Wednesday as well.
"Thursday, Friday and Saturday are looking mostly dry at the moment. At one time they were suggesting it was heavy rain on Friday, but that seems to have petered out.
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"The other thing is the showers could be quite wintry. There is a bit of a cold front and they are not quite sure where that front is going to settle. The good thing is, they say the snow will be over high ground, but it has the potential to be a bit wintry – in April!
"We are just having to take it day by day. We are certainly hoping that through to Thursday we won't need to water again. We are good to soft on all three courses. If we get that rain tonight, with the upper end of that 6mm, we would be good to soft, soft in places, probably."
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