2 minutes Weather conditions have a huge bearing on the betting markets, with odds already reacting to Monday's rain, especially amongst the ante-post favourites.
Anticipation grows for the Grand National at Aintree this Saturday, but the course is bracing for softer conditions due to persistent wet weather expected to last into Tuesday. Weather conditions have a huge bearing on the betting markets, with odds already reacting to Monday's rain, especially amongst the ante-post favourites.
The National course's terrain, already characterised as soft with patches of heavy ground, faced further rainfall on Monday amid a band of wet weather that isn't predicted to dissipate until today.
Although a dryer spell is anticipated leading up to Thursday's meeting commencement, the course's clerk, Sulekha Varma, highlighted the particularly challenging conditions near the Canal Turn, stating they were "pretty deep."
Showers Set for Saturday
In the past week, the area has seen 24mm of rain, with the forecast suggesting showers might occur throughout the meeting's three-day duration. A more significant downpour is expected from Thursday night into Friday.
Varma shared on Monday afternoon:
"We've got some more heavy rain coming on Monday evening and it's looking like we'll get some more on Tuesday as well. We get some slightly drier, but not entirely dry [weather], and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday periods of sunshine and some scattered showers as well."
In further comments, she elaborated:
"We'll get a bit softer first but we may well see things improve before the end of the week. I'm hoping we'll see some improvement but where the heavy ground is, which is from Foinavon right through until Canal Turn and up to fences 11 and 12, it's pretty deep. It'll take some time for that to dry out."
She also noted the fleeting nature of any drying, saying:
"We've been getting that windy weather and sunshine over the weekend and the track did dry but then you get 6mm of rain and you're getting back to square one. It's not taking much to top it off."
The Mildmay course is also reported to be soft, setting the stage for the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices' Chase, which opens the meeting on Thursday.