» Trainer Keighley leads calls for earlier starts in heat,
» CHAMPION jockey Richard Johnson and Gloucestershire trainer Martin Keighley are calling for an even earlier start to race meetings when the weather is especially warm.
The duo successfully teamed up with rejuvenated chaser Mr Mafia at Southwell, a fixture that was abandoned with two contests left to run after temperatures reached 35C.
Racing had been brought forward to 11.25am as a welfare measure for its participants, but many on social media were not satisfied and said the meeting should have been scrapped.
By the time Johnson and Keighley were saddling up for a double later in the afternoon, it was deemed to be too hot.
This was despite the best efforts of everyone at the course to provide shaded areas, extra water and misting fans to keep the horses cool.
“I was discussing with Dickie (Johnson) and we would have been in favour of the meeting starting by about 9.30am,” said Keighley.
“Most yards were getting the horses out earlier anyway, we could have set off at 5.30am to get here in time.
“It’s something they could look at. Then all the races would have been run.”
Keighley had tacked up his runner in the ‘Follow At The Races On Twitter Handicap Hurdle’ when it was announced that would be it for the day.
Extra vets and staff had been deployed to identify and treat any horses that showed symptoms of heat stress.
The condition is not confined to periods of hot weather and occurs in all conditions.
The British Horseracing Authority gave trainers the option to withdraw their horses without a penalty if they did not want to run them.
Only one took up the option and Keighley said he would have taken the same steps if he was not happy.
“I saw the horses coming back after the first race and if any had been distressed I would have pulled mine out,” he added.
“Everyone at the course did a fantastic job, the horses were kept in the shade before the race and immediately after they had buckets of water put on them.
“By the time it got to Enforcement’s race (at 2pm) it was so much hotter and the breeze had gone.
“It was the right decision to call it off.”