Newcastle call afternoon check

Officials at Newcastle will hold an inspection at 3pm ahead of tomorrow’s John Smith’s Northumberland Plate meeting.

Thursday’s meeting at the course was abandoned after just four races as torrential rain and lightning hit, with a decision then taken to call off the rest of the card.

Friday’s evening meeting has already been cancelled and clerk of the course James Armstrong has a busy morning of checks to complete before the official inspection time.

He said: “We’re just trying to regroup generally this morning. I’m about to go out and have a look at the track but it’s not just the ground we have to check, it’s also the infrastructure, the parking – all the things you wouldn’t usually have to double check.

“We had 30 millimetres of rain in the space of 20 minutes and that’s what really did the damage.

“We need to check everything thoroughly."