Maxse Defends Haydock in Sprint Cup Watering Row

John Maxse, the director of communications for Jockey Club Racecourses, strongly defended the watering policy at Haydock Park yesterday amid continuing complaints that over-watering had spoiled the chance of Sakhee's Secret, the hot favourite for the Group One Sprint Cup at the track on Saturday.

Maxse stressed that JCR, which owns several of the country's top tracks, had no group policy on watering, and that such decisions are left to individual clerks of the course. However, he was adamant that it was always preferable for tracks to "err on the side of caution" when faced with the possibility of very fast ground.

"It is better to have ground that is slightly on the soft side than rattling fast ground and all the problems that can be associated with that," Maxse said.

"It is a very difficult thing to get exactly right, but I have spoken to Dickon White, Haydock's managing director, today, and he believes that given the forecast and the decisions they were asked to take in the run-up to the meeting, they would probably take exactly the same ones again in the same position.

"The track was watered on Thursday in order to provide the best possible ground, but Friday was not nearly as hot and sunny as had been forecast so the ground did not dry out as much as expected."

However, Hughie Morrison, the trainer of Sakhee's Secret, said yesterday that he is still "seething with rage" at the state of the ground on Saturday.

"The times of the races confirmed it was on the soft side of good," Morrison said. "You have to think about the stable staff who put in so much work and it ends up being all for nothing. I can take it on the chin if the weather changes, but for the course to water so close to the start of the meeting is simply not right. We have become a laughing stock.

"He is in the Diadem and the Abbaye, but I am so disillusioned that I am not sure where he will run. In fact, I might put him away until next year."