York to 'review' watering plans

Conditions at York continue to dry out ahead of the Ebor Festival – with officials not ruling out the possibility of watering ahead of the big kick-off on Tuesday.

Up to 20 millimetres of rainfall had been forecast to hit the Knavesmire during Friday, but that has so far failed to materialise.

Clerk of the course William Derby believes the track could still be hit with a light shower at some stage during the next 24 hours, however.

“The ground is currently good to firm and we’ve had a dry, warm, blustery sort of day,” said Derby.

“Most of the rain is to the north of us but there is the possibility of a shower band coming through tonight, bringing up to two millimetres.

“On Saturday we are forecast a cloudy start with a chance of a shower, while it’s looking largely dry with sunny spells on Sunday.

“We’ve gone from a forecast with a lot of rain to a forecast with not much rain. With that in mind, we will see what happens tonight, and will review our watering plans over the weekend.

“We are having regular dialogue with all connections of the horses and we will continue to keep people updated.”