Moment misses Plate prize

Judgethemoment, one of the leading fancies for the John Smith's Northumberland Plate, has been ruled out due to soft ground.Trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam walked the course on Saturday morning but found the ground to be testing following heavy rain on Friday afternoon.She said: "I'm really disappointed. We've had a look at the track and it's soft, heavy in places with no exaggeration. He just can't go on that ground. If you look back, the few times he has run on it, he just hasn't handled it."She added: "It's frustrating as the staff have put in so much work but then the heavens have opened. We have a fit horse who is ready to go though, so we can't hold on to him for too much longer."I will probably enter him for the two-mile Listed race (the Esher Stakes) at Sandown on Saturday now."He would be stepping up in company but he's rated 97 now and is knocking on the door of Listed level so we might give it a go."David Arbuthnot's Desert Sea has also been taken out of the Plate due to the ground.