Hurdles at Chester a step closer Chester's innovation of staging a hurdles race during a Flat meeting is a step closer following a trial at the track on Monday. There was a scare, however, when one of the horses involved in the experiment fell at the final of eight flights. Both the horse, which has yet to race under Rules, and jockey Jason Maguire escaped unscathed. Grand National winning-trainer Donald McCain, who trains locally at Cholmondeley, brought 10 horses who split into two groups of five which were separated by about a furlong. They completed two circuits of the track, jumping the four hurdles twice and covering about two miles. Maguire was in the leading group when his mount fell after jumping the final flight which was situated exactly a furlong from the finish. The rider got up straight away off the rain-sodden turf, but there where a few anxious moments while the horse lay on the ground. While screens, which are the norm on such occasions, were erected, the horse was only winded and soon back on his feet. McCain himself led the horse away. The possibility of hurdles racing at Chester has received criticism in some quarters, but McCain was unequivocal of his support. He said: "There has been a lot of rubbish in the papers the last few days from people on the Flat. I think Chester deserve a pat on the back for thinking about the job. "It's a great track, it's always in good nick and a fantastic initiative. If a race is put on it will be a proper race for proper money. I'd be more than happy to bring my best horses." Chester chief executive Richard Thomas said: "It showed that a hurdle can be fitted in, that it can work. "It is now a case of thinking about what we can do. We are not looking to have jumps racing in the winter - we are not looking to have a set of summer jumping. "Today was just about whether it could happen. We wanted to make sure it was a proper schooling trial and the horses were not just jogging round. "They went a good clip on very soft ground and we were happy it worked. "Flat racing is our number one priority and always will be. This is something we just had to look at." McCain brought a mixture of horses to the trial and all were ridden by professional jockeys including Brian Harding, Brian Hughes, Will Kennedy, Henry Brooke, Adrian Lane and John Kington. The trainer was happy with the way the course officials dealt with the fall. "He got tired and probably wasn't 100% fit. We probably did a bit too much here but that's what we came to do," he said. "All the horses came back in one piece. I'm glad it happened in the sense that it showed that everything was working at the track and showed to me that one or two horses aren't as fit as they should be. "I was already convinced you can have hurdles here. This is a better track than places like Cartmel and Fakenham and I will support them the best way I can. "It was more about siting hurdles and seeing where the best places where to have them." Maguire felt the course was suited to flights of hurdles despite being on the turn. "One of the hurdles down the back was at an angle but it rode well. You wouldn't want it on rattling ground though," he said. Thomas stressed that ground conditions would be to the fore and that the idea would be to attract quality horses for a decent race. He said: "It just might be we will add a race on to a Flat fixture. All of that is up in the air. "It's not a gimmick. We want to attract the best horses at the time. "It's possible it could happen next year, but we've not got to thinking about that side of things yet. "In May you've got the Swinton Hurdle (at Haydock) which is the last decent hurdle race and we wouldn't have it on firm ground. "The ground on the outside, where they trialled today, is always softer than on the inside. "We would always take ground conditions into account." Clerk of the course Andrew Morris said: "This was just to get an understanding and that's why jockeys' input was so important to see if this is an idea we can continue to explore. "We have to keep going forward and trying new ideas. We thought this was a worthwhile exercise to understand how we might work it in."
