Ovambo drops out of Northumberland
Sunday, 23 June 2002 12:35Foster's Lager Northumberland Plate meeting which gets under way on Friday. Rain last week had left the ground at Gosforth Park on the soft side of good but clerk of Conditions at Newcastle have dried up over the weekend ahead of the two-day the course James Armstrong said today: 't's dried a bit. We've had quite a strong wind blowing all weekend.'
'We've had showers on and off but they've not been very significant at all. At the moment it's more like good, good to firm in places. The forecast is for it to be mainly dry up to Saturday. We will get the odd shower thrown in but it's not going to amount to much. We are contemplating how much water to put on just to keep the ground as it is,' he added.
Peter Makin's smart four-year-old Ovambo will miss the £140,000 Foster's Lager Northumberland Plate at Newcastle on Saturday, it was revealed today. Ovambo, a good third to St Expedit in the Ormonde Stakes at Chester last month, was due to carry 9st 11lb in the two-mile Gosforth Park feature but has been ruled out of the race after appearing not to stay the distance when sixth in the Bonusprint Henry II Stakes at Sandown three weeks ago.
'We don't run at Newcastle,' the trainer said. 'He doesn't get the trip so we are dropping him back. He took the Sandown race very well but there's no Northumberland Plate I'm afraid.' The Tote Ebor could now figure in Makin's plans for Ovambo and he added: 'I think one mile, six furlongs is his maximum.'
Filed by Brendan Cole
