Wet weather wreaks havoc on racing fixtures

Heavy rain throughout the country has hit racing once again this summer.

Tonight’s meeting at Chepstow has lost the battle while tomorrow’s fixture at Newton Abbot is a washout, and further casualties are likely.

Chepstow was abandoned following 50 millimetres of rain over the past 24 hours, with no sign of the wet weather relenting.

“We have had some very heavy rain and it is still raining now. The course is waterlogged and we have had to call it off,” said clerk of the course Tim Long.

Torrential rain overnight forced Newton Abbot to give up any chance of racing tomorrow evening.

Estate manager Jason Loosemore said: “We were concerned yesterday that we would have more rain during the course of the day and unfortunately that has happened.

“It was safe to race yesterday morning but we had 16 millimetres on top of what we’d had on Saturday and into Sunday morning.

“That gave us a total of 28 millimetres on top of everything we’d had last week and we were out there this morning and everything is waterlogged.

“In most places there is water lying on the top as well, so given the forecast of further showers today, there is no prospect of improvement so we’ve decided to draw stumps.

“It’s desperate really as it was a big night for us and we were as keen as possible to get it on.”

Prospects are also poor at racecourses as far afield as Beverley and Worcester.

An inspection has been called for 3pm at Beverley ahead of tomorrow’s meeting, but that may be brought forward if conditions continue to deteriorate.

“We have an inspection for three o’clock but I may have to make an earlier call as it’s not looking at all good,” said racecourse manager Sally Iggulden.

“At the moment we are soft, heavy in places with standing water on the track.”

Worcester have called a precautionary inspection at 8am on Tuesday in the hope of an improvement in the weather ahead of Wednesday’s card.

However, clerk of the course Fergus Cameron is concerned the drainage system may have to be turned off if the River Severn rises significantly following heavy rain.

“We had 27 millimetres of rain overnight here at Worcester and the track is currently waterlogged in places in the home straight,” Cameron said.

“We’ve got further rain forecast today and, added to the general volume of rain, we are expecting the River Severn to rise again, although it has got a fair way to go at this stage.

“If all those things fall into place we thought it best to create awareness, which is why we have taken the decision to hold a precautionary inspection at 8am tomorrow.

“Our main concern is if the river rises we may have to close our drainage system off.

“But we have a dry day forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday so it’s really all about timing I think.”