TOP trainer Paul Nicholls’ gallops have been left ‘literally underwater’ after ‘biblical’ rain caused chaos at his Ditcheat yard.
His loop and flat gallops have suffered ‘huge damage’ just weeks before Cheltenham Festival.
Only one of his three gallops can be used after ‘biblical’ rain left his yard ‘literally underwater’[/caption]
Nicholls has not been able to assess the full scale of it yet owing to the hazardous conditions.
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And he said further forecast rain is giving him a huge headache, just as the season really hots up.
Fortunately his famous hill gallop is OK to use but the rest of his base is totally out of action.
The Betfair ambassador, speaking on his Ditcheat Diaries series, said: “Honestly, it was biblical rain yesterday and I’ve never in 33 years of being here seen weather like it, the amount of rain.
“Our hill gallop is fine but our loops and flat gallop are literally underwater.
“You’ve never seen water like it.
“But we haven’t been able to assess the full damage yet because we can’t get on there.
“But I’ve never had water on the gallops, let alone what we saw yesterday, we can’t believe it.
“The damage water does is absolutely incredible.
“We’ve been able to school horses as normal on the hill gallop but it’s not good elsewhere.
“This is a huge amount of damage we’ll have to put right during the week.
“It’s not ideal and there’s a lot more rain forecast.”
More to follow.
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