Hamilton the latest to fall victim to the rain

● Ayr Gold Cup will be run at Haydock

Today’s meeting at Hamilton has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Clerk of the course Sulekha Varma called an initial inspection for 7.30am on raceday and said the track was raceable yesterday morning, but further rain prompted her to bring the inspection forward to 4pm. At the time of the inspection there were areas of false ground and, with further rain forecast, officials have had no option but to call off the meeting.

Varma said: “It’s more the intensity of the rain rather than the volume and it’s fallen on what was already soft ground after a wet summer.

“There are areas of false ground which simply aren’t safe enough to race on and we’ve got more rain forecast.

“This was our last fixture of the season, so it’s really disappointing.”

The blow came a day after it was announced that this year’s Ayr Gold Cup – which was supposed to take place on Saturday but also fell victim to the weather – will now be run at Haydock Park.

The prestigious race will take place this Saturday coming but, while the switch of venue is clearly positive for racing, it will be little consolation to those in charge at Ayr, who have said that the total cancellation of their three-day Western meeting due to waterlogging will cost the local economy a seven-figure sum.

The British Horseracing Authority also revealed that William Hill, the race’s original sponsor, will be replaced by online casino company 32Red.

“We are delighted that the Ayr Gold Cup, which is such an important betting race, has been saved and will be run at Haydock on September 30,” said Richard Wayman, chief operating officer for the BHA.

In today’s action, Soie D’leau looks primed to finally get his nose in front this season when he lines up in the big race of the day at Leicester. Kristin Stubbs’ five-year-old is a fine sprinter, yet he has not won since October 2016.

That in no way tells the full story, though, as he has gone close countless times in stronger races than this.

No better was that illustrated than at Haydock last time, when he finished second behind Mayleaf Shine in a class two handicap over five furlongs.

Soie D’leau had ten other rivals that day, but he simply bumped into a progressive, better-handicapped animal at the Merseyside circuit.

Stubbs’ representative has gone up just 1lb for the Racing UK Handicap, which is far from the end of the world as he won last autumn off a 6lb higher mark. A proven operator when the mud is flying, the gelded son of Monsieur Bond utterly deserves a chance of fortune in what looks a perfectly winnable encounter.

It is also interesting to see Tom Queally on board for the first time.