Punchestown meeting moved to Monday after heavy rain
An eight-race card at Punchestown which was due to be held on Friday has been moved to Monday. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Punchestown's Friday meeting, which was cancelled due to heavy overnight rain, will now be held on Monday, February 24, Horse Racing Ireland has confirmed.
Original entries for the eight-race card stand while fresh declarations must be made by 10am on Saturday.
The card was due to be the second day of a two-day fixture which had been rescheduled due to the tragic death of jockey Michael O'Sullivan.
However, with parts of the track already unraceable and further rain due to fall, a decision was made early on Friday morning.
"Following extremely heavy downpours overnight, which brought more rain than was forecast, unfortunately parts of the track are now unfit for racing due to waterlogging," said clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan.
"We were due to have 10-15mm of rain last night into today, but we've already had 20mm of rain and it's still raining at present. Speaking to Met Eireann, there's now the possibility of a further 17mm prior to racing.
"With parts of the track unfit for racing and the rain continuing throughout the morning, we've unfortunately no option but to cancel the fixture."
The cancellation means that the Dundalk card, which gets underway at 5pm, will be the only race meeting in Ireland on Friday.
The fixture at @punchestownrace today has been cancelled as parts of the track are unfit for racing pic.twitter.com/DihlQwFEml
— IHRB Raceday information (@IHRBRaceday) February 21, 2025
