The purpose of watering is to maintain the moisture level essential for good turf husbandry in order to achieve optimum resilience and a suitable, consistent racing surface for the horse and its welfare. Racecourse Managing Executives invest in irrigation systems that apply water consistency whilst meeting the flow/delivery requirements of BHA’s General Instruction (BHAGI) 3.2.

If racecourses did not irrigate their track, or were ever prevented from doing so for a fixed number of days before racing on the basis of some sort of BHA Rule or Instruction, the quality of the track would be affected, more fixtures would be abandoned, field sizes would diminish and the welfare of the participants would be compromised.