Weather Prompts York Switch Heavy rain over the weekend has forced York to alter the starting positions for three races at this week´s May Festival. The races were originally scheduled to be run over a mile using the round course and have been switched to the shorter distance of seven furlongs using the straight course and appropriate spur. The first affected race is on Thursday, the Hambleton Stakes; the other two races are being run as the fourth and sixth races on Friday, the Michael Seely Memorial Fillies Stakes and the GWP Architects Handicap. Clerk of the course William Derby said: 'The cloudbursts over the weekend coming on top of a wet spring have left us with some patches of ground towards the middle of the track, just after the mile start, that are unsuitable so we´ve made the decision to switch the distances.' The racecourse has spent the day working with the Race Planning department of the British Horseracing Board and Weatherbys in order to contact the trainers of the horses entered for the three contests. Derby continued: 'We´ve spoken to a lot of the trainers involved and explained the situation; the majority of them are content to run over the shorter trip, although I appreciate that it won´t suit everyone.' Connections of horses entered for the other races over the round course, including the Dante and Musidora, are being reassured that the wet patches should not affect the running of their races. 'The racing line itself is unaffected and by the time the horses running in the longer races reach the mile post they will have sorted themselves out and be well away from the areas of concern,' Derby added? PA Sport
