Jockeys outraged at Salisbury going Top jockeys were up in arms over the state of the watered ground at Salisbury this afternoon.After finishing third aboard John Gosden`s Trilogy behind winner Passing Glance in the Herbert and Gwen Blagrave Maiden Stakes, Richard Hughes branded the going 'a joke'.The jockey fumed: 'The last two furlongs are soft. I nearly fell twice as they put too much water on the track and it`s a joke.'I rode here yesterday and the track was like the M4 and today its like the Thames - its soft and I can`t believe it.'Fellow jockeys Steve Drowne and Richard Quinn were also unhappy about the state of the ground.Drowne said: 'Its very wet as they have over-watered, its as simple as that.'Quinn was equally scathing, saying: 'Its nothing but a disgrace. Its been over-watered and its very, very, patchy.'Clerk of the course, Jeremy Martin, countered: 'After racing yesterday we put five millimetres water over the last five furlongs. There was a possibility of showers but if we had missed them it would have been very fast this afternoon.'This morning we had three millimetres of rain and that`s just made it a bit tacky as it has rained on watered ground.'The stewards staged an inspection of the last two furlongs following complaints from the jockeys but racing continued after the ground was officially changed from `good to firm (firm in places)` to `good to firm (last furlong good)`.Despite his misgivings concerning the ground Hughes went on to take the featured Champagne Auction Stakes in clear-cut fashion on Richard Hannon`s Prince Dayjur, who made all the running to dispose of Prism by six lengths.Hannon had earlier initiated a treble when Johnny Reb finally got his head in front at the ninth time of asking, holding off Dennis Our Menace by a short head for the Axminster Apprentice Handicap.And he wrapped it up when Hughes, completing a double of his own, brought Seattle Prince down the outside to collar Shirazi in the shadow of the finishing post in the Levy Board Handicap.
