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Rescheduled Meeting Fails to Disrupt Dunguib Plans
30/11/09

By Josh Allen

Dunguib remains on course for the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse, despite the fixtures cancellation on Sunday.

The meeting has since been rescheduled for this Wednesday but that has not put off trainer Philip Fenton, who says his plans will only change if the weather forces his hand.

“The intention is to run Dunguib, but if the ground is a real bog and borderline unraceable then we might reconsider” said Fenton on Sunday.

“We're not looking beyond Wednesday for Dunguib at this stage and hopefully conditions will improve a bit.”

The 6 year old is already a clear favourite for the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham and racegoers had been looking forward to witnessing his second outing of the season, following a comfortable victory at Punchestown.

However, the original date had to be rearranged after 20mm of rain fell the night before the race, waterlogging the track. With three Grade 1 races and a star studded line up, the meeting was quickly rescheduled and Wednesday's original fixture will now go ahead on Thursday 10th December.

Track manager Caroline Gray said that the extent of the rain came as a surprise. She remarked on Sunday: “We were expecting a few showers but nothing like the amount of rain we got.

“We got 12 millimetres up to 7am this morning and between then and 9.00 we had another eight to ten millimetres.”

There will now be fresh declarations for all the races on Tuesday and racegoers will be compensated with free entry, for any inconvenience caused by the abandonment.

Gray added: “We have decided to make Wednesday a free admission day. The met office has told us that the rain should clear on Sunday afternoon. Monday is expected to be dry while we might get a few showers on Tuesday. If the forecast is right then I would be optimistic that racing will go ahead on Wednesday.”