Why Do Racecourses Water the Track? The Mullins–Cheltenham Row

Why do racecourses water the track? The short answer

Racecourses water the track for two reasons: to keep the grass alive and springy, and to stop the ground getting so hard that it jars horses' legs at racing speed. In Britain, the regulator's guidance tells jumps courses to aim for "good" ground and to irrigate to get there instead of waiting for rain.

That sounds simple. This week it turned into one of the loudest arguments in jump racing.

On Nov. 11, 2026, Ireland's champion trainer Willie Mullins told reporters at the Lord Bagenal Inn, after hosting the media at his nearby Closutton yard, that "a lot of damage" was done on the last two days of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival because the course "hadn't watered properly", the Irish Examiner reported. On Nov. 12, Cheltenham's clerk of the course, Jon Pullin, answered through the Racing Post.

If racing words are new to you, "going" is simply how soft or firm the ground is. Our guide to horse racing track ratings covers the full scale.

Willie Mullins and the Cheltenham ground: what each side said

Both sides deserve a fair hearing, so here they are next to each other.

Mullins gave two examples. His mare Bambino Fever, he said, "got a bit jarred up" when well beaten in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle on the Thursday; the official result shows she finished 16th of 22.

The second was Fact To File, last year's Ryanair Chase winner, who was withdrawn from the same race on that Thursday. The horse runs in the colours of owner JP McManus.

Mullins also argued that horses who race on soft ground all winter need "winter ground" in March. "People with the real good horses just won't run there" if the trend continues, he said.

Important: nobody has published veterinary findings linking any horse's problems to the ground. Mullins's "damage" is a trainer's account of his own horses. Cheltenham has not accepted it, and no independent review has been announced.

What the going actually was at the 2026 Festival

Neither side's statement gives the going, so here is what the records show.

On the opening morning, Pullin told the Racing Post the forecast was for a mostly dry spell and then 5–10 mm of rain from Thursday afternoon. "Based on the forecast it may be we don't need to do anything," he said about further watering.

So the track dried from good to soft on Tuesday to good by Thursday's first race, even with some selective watering listed in Thursday's morning report, and then the rain came: about 2 mm during Thursday's racing and another 10 mm overnight, the Racing Post reported on Friday morning. That is the heart of the dispute: Mullins believes the course should have put more water on before Thursday, while the course's position is that it prepared safe ground.

Note that "good" is the going British guidance asks jumps tracks to aim for in general, though it also accepts a good to soft target at some courses (more on that below). Mullins's argument is that for horses coming off a soft winter, it wasn't soft enough.

Who decides? The clerk of the course

The clerk of the course is the official responsible for the racing surface. At Cheltenham that is Jon Pullin. The clerk:

• walks the track and declares the official going
• decides whether to water, where and how much
• reports going changes and watering to trainers and the public
• moves rails and hurdles to give horses fresh ground
• calls an inspection if the track may be unsafe

To back up the walk, British clerks use a GoingStick. It is a probe pushed into the turf that measures how easily it goes in and how the turf gives when the handle is pulled back. Higher numbers mean firmer ground.

At Cheltenham in March, the reading fell from 6.2 and 6.1 on Monday to 5.5 on Tuesday after watering. Pullin called that "bang in our good to soft range". Readings are specific to each course, so a 5.5 at one track is not the same as a 5.5 at another.

What target do jumps courses aim for?

British Horseracing Authority guidance sets the general aims:

• Jumps racing: good ground, and no firmer than good to firm
• Flat racing: good to firm ground

The same instruction accepts that some courses may prefer to produce good to soft for jumping, or good on the Flat. It depends on the track's topography, soil type, weather and fixture pattern, and on whether it is racing on two or more consecutive days. A four-day Festival fits that last case, so a softer target would also have been within the guidance.

Jump racing gets the softer target because horses land over fences and hurdles, and landing adds load to the front legs. The BHA says courses should not rely on rainfall to hit those targets.

Why watering is harder than it sounds

A clerk is not turning a tap in a garden. Several things work against a clean result.

• The forecast can be wrong. Water on Wednesday, get a downpour on Thursday, and the ground turns heavy. The BHA calls watering "inadvisable within 24 hours of racing" when rain could push the ground to an extreme.
• Wind and sun dry turf fast. A breezy March day can take moisture out quicker than an irrigation run puts it in.
• Soil and the water table differ across one track. Low-lying, clay-rich areas hold water; slopes and well-drained stretches dry first. That is why going reports say "in places".
• Even coverage is difficult. Too much water in one spot makes the going inconsistent, and soil overfilled with water can become false ground: a deep, unstable patch where the surface gives no support and the hoof sinks in.
• Water has to come from somewhere. Courses depend on reservoirs, boreholes or mains, and a dry year squeezes supply. See how drought ended Ludlow's season.
• Four days of racing in a row. Fresh ground is saved for later days, so conditions vary by day and by course.

Too much water has its own cost: waterlogged ground is why races get abandoned.

What "jarred up" means, and why trainers pull horses

"Jarred up" is stable talk, not a diagnosis. It describes a horse that comes back sore and short-striding after galloping or jumping on ground that was too firm for it.

The idea is concussion. Each stride sends a shock up through the hoof and leg, and firmer ground absorbs less of it. A racecourse farrier writing in Trainer Magazine described such horses as "scratchy": the stride loses its flow.

Why do trainers withdraw on quick ground?

1. The horse's build and action. Some horses with a high, pounding knee action are thought to cope better with cut in the ground.
2. History. A horse with old leg problems is managed more carefully.
3. The season. Jumpers who have raced on soft ground since November meet something quite different in a dry March.
4. The long game. One race is not worth losing the rest of a season.

Unsuitable ground is a recognised reason for a late withdrawal in British racing, and non-runner lists mark such horses "going". It comes with conditions. Under the Rules of Racing, a trainer who gives the going as the reason faces disciplinary action unless the going has changed since the horse was declared, or the horse is at the racecourse, a veterinary officer has verified its identity and the trainer considers it will be unsuited by the ground. Fact To File's connections took him out on the day because they judged the ground too quick for him.

The same logic applies at home. If your horse feels short or reluctant after work on hard summer ground, rest it and ask your vet. Don't guess. Our health basics page covers what normal looks like.

What to watch next

• Cheltenham's November Meeting opens Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. Watch the going reports and any watering updates; our Paddy Power Gold Cup guide has the schedule.
• Any formal follow-up. Mullins said the issue "needs to be checked and looked at". As of Nov. 12, no review by the course or the BHA has been announced.
• March 2027 entries. Mullins said owners are leaning toward Aintree and Punchestown. Whether top Irish horses actually skip Cheltenham will only be clear when entries and declarations are made.
• How to follow the ground yourself: check the course's going report each morning, look for the GoingStick number, note how many millimetres were watered, and compare it with the rain forecast.

New to the vocabulary? The glossary has the basics, and more racing explainers live in Trends.