Kempton escapes floods as Southwell cancels January meet

Kempton clerk of the course Barney Clifford sees no need to call an inspection ahead of the William Hill King George VI Chase meeting on St Stephen's Day.

Although conditions will be demanding, the Sunbury circuit was “perfectly raceable” this morning.

Clifford said: “We’ve had two heavy showers yielding eight millimetres of rain.

“The ground is officially heavy. There are further showers around, but I think we’ve seen the worst of them.

“There is likely to be more rain just after midnight, but Boxing Day is forecast to be bright and sunny until mid-afternoon.

“It’s perfectly raceable and we can look forward to a bumper day.”

The situation is more concerning at Fontwell, though, as clerk of the course Ed Arkell was forced to call an 8am inspection ahead of their fixture on St Stephen's Day.

Officials must assess conditions following 17 millimetres of overnight rain.

This morning there was found to have been standing water on the track.

Arkell said: “We were forecast showers, but we had rather more than just showers.

“Today will be a windy day, which could help us, although there might be more rain to come.

“It’s going to be a real case of waiting to see happens with the weather.”

Wetherby had already called a inspection at 8.30am on St Stephen's Day morning, but clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson is in high spirits.

Indeed, the inspection was downgraded to “precautionary” on Christmas Day morning.

He said: “The forecast is dry today and we could even race today.

“We had five millimetres of rain yesterday and all it’s done since then is improve..

“The standing water is nearly all gone, so you’d have to be positive about the meeting going ahead.”

Ffos Las also appear in a good place ahead of their fixture on St Stephen's Day.

Clerk of the course Tim Long said: “We had 9mm of rain throughout yesterday.

“It will be heavy ground, and unless we get absolute deluge, we will be absolutely fine.”

There are also no reported problems for St Stephen's Day’s other meetings at Market Rasen, Sedgefield, Wincanton, Towcester and Wolverhampton.

Leicester’s fixture on Friday must pass an 11am inspection on St Stephen's Day.

The track is partially waterlogged following 18 millimetres of overnight rain.

Further rain has also been forecast during the next few days.

Southwell, meanwhile, confirmed the abandonment of their jumps fixture on Thursday, January 3.

Officials at the Nottinghamshire circuit said earlier in the week the meeting would be called off due to flooding.