Storm Babet continues to hit racing fixtures in Britain and Ireland but the forecast is less daunting for the major meetings scheduled to take place later this week.
The ground at Doncaster was described as heavy, waterlogged in places on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the Futurity Trophy weekend cards on Friday and Saturday.
However, the recent rain is expected to ease off at the South Yorkshire track, which is set to stage the final Group One contest of the season with Saturday’s Kameko Futurity Trophy Stakes.
Clerk of the course Paul Barker said: “We’ve had around 7mm today, which has taken us to heavy ground and it is just a bit waterlogged around the mile shoot, so we are seeing if we can do anything about that.
“But the forecast is for things to improve later on this evening and then stay relatively dry until Thursday morning, when it should just be a case of getting a few showers, rather than the heavy stuff we’ve had since the weekend.
“So, once we get through today, hopefully everything will get a bit more manageable right through the rest of the week and we can start to put a plan together for Friday and Saturday.
“At least Friday’s entries were made after Saturday’s deluge and the Futurity is historically run on testing ground, so everyone who is planning to have runners are aware of what to expect.
“Other than that, all we can do is take it one day at a time and try our best to keep on top of everything.”
Cheltenham have no issues prior to kicking off their new season with The Showcase meeting on Friday and Saturday, when Grand National hero Corach Rambler and dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner Flooring Porter could return to action.
“It’s really exciting to get going again and we’re in great shape,” clerk of the course Jon Pullin told Racing TV. “We’ve had a really beneficial summer from our point of view and the turf manager’s point of view.
“Whilst we’ve seen significant rain, which did cause some problems around areas of the site, fortunately the track took it really, really well. We’re in a good position.
“It’s currently good to soft in the main and the forecast is for little bits of rain between now and racing, so I’d envisage that staying the same.”
Newbury are also scheduled to race on Friday and Saturday, with a couple of Group Three events on the second of those cards – the Horris Hill Stakes and the St Simon Stakes.
The Berkshire track is described as heavy, soft in places, with the warning that it will not be able to take substantial rain.
The forecast is for another downpour tonight to be followed by a mixture of sunshine and showers.
Clerk of the course George Hill said: “The bulk of the rain should be tonight but then it’s a variable forecast. It could be anything from 5mm to 10 or 15, or even an inch of rain.
“If we’re talking those higher kind of quantities over a 24-hour period, we’d be very much up against it, but the track is in good shape for this time of year and we’ll just have to hope for the best and see what we get.”
Tuesday’s meeting at Yarmouth and the Wednesday card at the Curragh were the latest casualties of Storm Babet and a sustained spell of heavy rain.
That followed last Saturday’s scheduled meetings at Stratford and Market Rasen being lost to the weather, along with Wednesday’s Worcester card and four upcoming fixtures at Southwell.
England insist Tom Curry is ready for Friday’s World Cup bronze final as squad and management rally around the flanker caught in a racism storm.
World Rugby is investigating an allegation made by Curry that he was racially abused by South Africa hooker Bongi Mbonambi in the first half of Saturday’s semi-final defeat.
Curry claimed to referee Ben O’Keeffe that he was called a “white c***” by Mbonambi and, after a complaint made by the Rugby Football Union, audio and video footage is being examined for evidence.
If the 25-year-old is picked against Argentina on Friday night it will be his 50th cap and attack coach Richard Wigglesworth is confident the alleged incident will not be a disruption as England prepare to sign off their World Cup.
“Tom is good. I know players will have got around him. Steve and the management team have been all over it. I’m sure he’s getting every bit of support that he needs,” Wigglesworth said.
“I’m not sure you can ever put yourself in those shoes and know that feeling. What I do know is he’s an impressive young man who, if selected on Friday, will pour everything into that England shirt as he has done on the previous 49 occasions.
“It will be dealt with by World Rugby. We get stuck into our prep for Argentina. The process is the process and we have no knowledge of how long that will go on for or the outcome, but we have to get ready for Argentina.
“Every week there is always some sort of thing you could be distracted by. It’s international rugby, there’s a lot you could be distracted by. You want to be in situations where there are distractions.
“This distraction is different, but it’s still noise that isn’t about Friday night, our prep and our desire to finish in the right way.
“World Rugby has been pretty vocal in following up things in the past and they need to do the same again.”
Kitty’s Light, who enjoyed an incredible end to last season when winning the Eider, Scottish Grand National and Bet365 Gold Cup is likely to have a spin over hurdles before his first major target – the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on December 2.
Trained expertly by Christian Williams, he pulled off a unique feat last term in winning three of the most prestigious staying handicaps.
Now rated 147, Williams has the Randox Grand National has his big aim this spring.
“He’s in good form and I might give him a run over hurdles before Newbury because he thrived on his racing last year,” said Williams.
“Hopefully we’ll then take him to Newbury for the gallops morning about a week before and the plan then will be all systems go for the Coral Gold Cup, we like to have runners in these prestigious races.
“He had a spin in a charity race at Chepstow recently and while I wouldn’t take much notice of that, it was great to see him on the racecourse.
“A lot of his season is geared around the Grand National but his other big aim is Newbury to try to win that. He’s 147 now so he should be in the top 34 for the National, he’d be very unlucky if he missed out. He will probably stay over hurdles apart from the Coral Gold Cup, though.”
The sponsors make Jonjo O’Neill’s Monbeg Genius their 6-1 favourite followed by Dan Skelton’s Midnight River after the initial entry stage.
Lucinda Russell has entered her two stable stars Corach Rambler and Ahoy Senor, while Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame has also been given the option by Paul Nicholls.
Connections hope to see Art Power shine in the sprint division for seasons to come after his triumph on Champions Day.
The Tim Easterby-trained grey was not especially fancied for the six-furlong Group One as he started at 40-1, but under David Allan he led from an early stage and always looked competitive when clearly comfortable on the soft going.
As the race neared the final furlongs his lead was reduced by the 5-4 favourite Kinross, ridden by Frankie Dettori, and at one point Art Power looked as though he was going to have to accept finishing second.
He did not fold, however, and rallied all the way to the line to prevail by a neck and give owners King Power Racing their first Group One success since Winter Power took the 2021 Nunthorpe.
“We were thrilled, it’s all about winning on those big days on the big occasions,” said Alastair Donald, racing manager to King Power.
“He’s been a great horse for King Power, he hasn’t had much luck in Group Ones as he’s been drawn badly or things have gone wrong for him, so he really deserved that.
“He showed great heart after being headed to come back and win, it was very exciting and I was thrilled for connections.”
The success is a third of the season for the six-year-old, who landed both the Greenlands and the Sapphire Stakes at Group Two level at the Curragh but was luckless when returning for the Flying Five in early September.
“He’s won two Group Twos and then in the Group One in Ireland it was a mess of a race, there’s a huge draw bias and the three hot favourites were all out of the top four,” Donald said.
“Two Group Twos and a Group One in a season, you’d take that with most horses!”
The Ascot victory vindicates the decision to geld the horse, who lost his form at the tail end of last season and was deemed to be a better prospect as a seasoned sprinter than a stallion.
“In his last three races last year he started missing the break and was rather colty, we thought before he went the wrong way he needed to be gelded,” Donald explained.
“His stallion value was low at that point and we thought there’d be more fun in gelding him and having him a racehorse for the next few years, he’s been such a sound horse, touch wood, that he should be around for two or three more seasons.
“He’s very much a favourite, he’s so eyecatching as he gets paler and paler and he’s a horse that people just seem to love watching.”
Former world number one Simona Halep has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against her four-year ban from competition for breaking anti-doping rules.
The 2019 Wimbledon singles champion was suspended by an International Tennis Integrity Agency tribunal in September, having been provisionally suspended in October 2022 after returning a positive test for the banned substance Roxadustat.
The tribunal ruled that the 32-year-old Romanian had committed intentional anti-doping run violations with reference to two charges, but she has now lodged an appeal with CAS for that finding to be overturned.
If the ban is upheld it means she will not be free to compete again until October 2026, by which time she will be 35 years old.
In a statement issued at the time of the ban, Halep said she had “never knowingly or intentionally used any prohibited substance.”
CAS has not given a timeframe for the appeal to be considered, but noted that she would be free to appeal the court’s decision via the Swiss Federal Tribunal if it is unfavourable.
Tottenham are enjoying their best start to an English top-flight season since 1960-61, following Monday’s 2-0 win over Fulham.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are unbeaten in nine matches and sit two points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the data behind Spurs’ strong start.
Dare to dream
Tottenham’s return of 23 points from their opening nine matches is the second highest in their top-flight history (all records calculated with three points being awarded for a win).
Only the 1960-61 double-winning side had a superior record at the same stage, having taken maximum points on their way to 11 victories from their first 11 games under Bill Nicholson.
Three other Spurs teams have gone unbeaten over the same period, with each of the 1959-60, 1990-91 and 2016-17 sides recording five wins and four draws in their first nine fixtures.
Tottenham ended as runners-up in the latter campaign – their highest Premier League finish to date – but they never topped the table ahead of champions Leicester.
Having already reached the summit during the recent international break, a win against Crystal Palace on Friday would see Postecoglou’s men set a new club record for most days spent at the top of the Premier League in a single season, which currently stands at 23 in 2020-21.
Ange-ball
As well as putting together a promising set of early results, Postecoglou has overseen a remarkable transformation in Tottenham’s playing style.
Spurs rank top of the Premier League for shots fired at their opponents’ goal this season, having racked up a total of 168 at an average of 18.7 per game.
They were seventh according to the same metric in 2022-23, with an average of 13.6 efforts per match.
Tottenham have also improved defensively after conceding 63 goals last season – their highest tally in a 38-game Premier League campaign.
Postecoglou’s side have faced an average of 12.4 shots per game compared with 13.6 last term.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has outperformed his predecessor Hugo Lloris, with a save rate of 84.2 per cent – the best in the Premier League – compared with the Frenchman’s 67.5 per cent in 2022-23.
Son steps up
Tottenham’s unbeaten run is all the more impressive given the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of the campaign.
The club’s all-time record scorer netted 30 Premier League goals last season, which accounted for 42.9 per cent of the team’s total (70).
This was the highest percentage of any player in the division, ahead of Erling Haaland who scored 38.3 per cent of Manchester City’s tally (36 out of 94).
Tottenham’s over-reliance on Kane in 2022-23 coincided with a dip in the form of Son Heung-min, who endured his worst scoring campaign in a Spurs shirt.
However, the South Korean has rediscovered his best under Postecoglou, with seven goals in nine appearances so far at an average of 0.89 per 90 minutes.
That is up from 0.31 per 90 last season and 0.69 in 2021-22 – the season in which he scored 23 goals and shared the Golden Boot with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
The next World Cup will be expanded to 24 teams as part of a new global calendar approved by World Rugby’s council.
The change that will come into effect for Australia 2027 is intended to provide more qualification opportunities for emerging nations as well as regional competitions.
Further details of the revised format for the group stage will be announced at a World Rugby press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
A new bi-annual international competition is also to be launched in 2026, comprising of two divisions of 12 teams with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030.
The matches will take place in the July and November international windows.
Three climate change protesters who were found guilty of aggravated trespass after they ran on to the pitch during the Ashes series at Lord’s have been sentenced.
The Just Stop Oil protest carried out by Judit Murray, 69, Daniel Knorr, 21, and Jacob Bourne, 27, stopped play during the second Test between England and Australia on June 28, as security and ground staff cleaned up orange powder that was thrown on the pitch and ensured the ground was not damaged.
The three, who said they wanted to create headlines for their climate change protest and did not want to cause disruption or damage the pitch, were found guilty after a trial at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
England player Jonny Bairstow carried Knorr off the pitch, champagne corks and fruit were thrown by cricket fans at Bourne as he was led off the field, and Murray was tackled before she could reach the wicket and held down on the grass.
The court heard there is a 3ft-high metallic fence in front of the grandstand at Lord’s, followed by a gap and 3ft-high LED hoardings which loop around the ground, and then a boundary rope which all serve as “markers” – along with many signs and loudspeaker messages which warn ticket-holders they are not allowed to go on to the field of play.
Nick Rowe, security operations manager at Lord’s, said the protesters got “very close” to the wicket and play had to stop for a short period immediately after the incident.
He said he was near the Allen Stand at the ground in St John’s Wood, north-west London, when “an unexpected roar from the crowd, much louder than you would expect from a first over” alerted him that something was wrong.
He previously told the court: “I heard a roar from the crowd. Obviously there were people on the pitch. There was a big cloud of orange powder in the air.”
Mr Rowe said he could see that play had stopped and the stewarding team ran towards the group of people who had been detained.
He told the court one of the men was detained on the ground before being taken away, while another was carried off the grass by Mr Bairstow.
Nick Collins, the head of security at Lord’s, who said the match was “probably the biggest game of our season”, added: “It impacts the rest of the day. The biggest worry for me is whether the ground has been damaged.
“Cricket has wide specifications and a set of rules about the pitch being played on. If the pitch had been damaged in some way, we could not have played.
“We had to check. We had blowers come on. Everyone was trying to blow the powder away and check the ground was not affected.”
Adeela Khan, defending Bourne and Knorr, said the disruption was “minimal” during the offence as there was a delay of four minutes and there was no damage to the pitch.
She said the offence was “carefully planned” in terms of timing to minimise the risk of harm to the defendants, players and security staff.
Katrina Walcott, defending Murray, said the defendants did not touch the wicket, were “quickly removed”, and clean-up lasted “a matter of seconds”.
She added: “She is very remorseful for the actions, she did apologise at the time.”
District Judge Neeta Minhas sentenced Murray, of Plough Road, West Ewell, Surrey; Knorr, of Green Street, Oxford; and Bourne, of Moorland Road, Hyde Park, Leeds, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to a 12-month community order, 60 hours of unpaid work and made an exclusion requirement from Lord’s cricket ground for 12 months.
Judge Minhas said: “Whilst you may not have intended harm and you say you co-ordinated action to minimise any harm, and I accept there was no harm in terms of damage to the pitch or from yourselves towards security officers or players, it’s such a public location where there were so many people who are very much enjoying the activity, who may have been drinking, your action will have an unknown effect on those in the stands.
“It also causes difficulty for security at that venue who have to control the crowd.
“It also takes security away from doing the job that they’re supposed to be doing, while they are detaining you and ensuring your safety from the crowd.
“I recollect evidence about items being thrown from the crowd which they then had to manage.”
The defendants will each also have to pay £330 in costs.
Poptronic is likely to bow out at the top following her thrilling success in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot.
Karl Burke’s four-year-old was sent off at a rather unfancied 22-1, but produced a career-best effort in the hands of Sam James, showing real bravery as she made every yard for a first success at the highest level.
It was a welcome return to form for the Lancashire Oaks scorer, who had disappointed in her two previous starts and Burke believes the switch to the inner track allowed her stamina to come to the fore in testing conditions on British Champions Day.
“She was brilliant and did very well,” said Burke.
“She has always been a very good filly and was given a great ride by Sam James.
“I think the switch to the inner track was to her advantage. It was half a furlong shorter and the way the race was run we got our own way in front. It all worked out brilliantly well.
“She’s a strong stayer over a mile and a half and over one-three and a bit we could make more use of her. She’s a galloper, but a high-class galloper.”
Poptronic’s Ascot success means she now has victories in every season she has been in training at Spigot Lodge, with the final act of her on-track career seeing her add a Group One triumph to her enviable CV.
Owned and bred by David and Yvonne Blunt, the daughter of Nathaniel is catalogued to be sold at Tattersalls later in the year where she will be one of the features in the Sceptre Sessions during the December Mare Sale.
“She’s got a date at the sales and as far as I know she will be going there at the beginning of December,” continued Burke.
“The owners were on a high on Saturday and thinking that over, but I think it is probably the right thing to do with her.
“She’s a winner at two, three and four with a couple of Group races in there and we’ve been very happy with her.”
Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali trained with his team-mates on Tuesday morning amid speculation that an investigation into breaches of betting rules was close to reaching a conclusion.
Reports from Italy have suggested the 23-year-old former AC Milan player could learn his fate before Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund at St James’ Park, with some predicting a lengthy ban.
However, the Italy international was among the group which trained at the club’s Darsley Park training headquarters as they completed their preparations for the Group F fixture under grey skies and incessant rain.
Tonali’s representatives reportedly spent Monday in discussions with prosecutors, who launched an investigation while he was away on international duty earlier this month.
He and compatriot Nicolo Zaniolo, currently on loan at Aston Villa from Galatasaray, are subject to a probe by the Italian Prosecutor’s Office and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in relation to illegal betting activity.
Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso had claimed the player was living with a “gambling addiction” and if breaches were found to have taken place, he could face many months on the sidelines.
The midfielder, who joined the Magpies in a £55million summer move from Milan, is accused of placing bets on the Rossoneri and former club Brescia during his time with them.
He has made 11 appearances to date for Newcastle, including a start in the 4-1 Champions League victory over Paris St Germain earlier this month.
Jerome Reynier was delighted with Facteur Cheval after his tenacious second-placed performance in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot.
The bay travelled over from France for the mile showpiece to round off a consistent season in which he had never been out of the top three.
In five Group-level starts prior to Ascot, the gelding had not been beaten more than a length and a half, finishing third to Anmaat in the Prix d’Ispahan, second to Paddington in the Sussex Stakes and third to Sauterne in the Prix du Moulin.
Big Rock was the runner-up on the latter occasion and on soft ground in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes it was the same horse who flew home to secure a six-length success.
His compatriot ensured the race was a French-dominated affair, however, with Facteur Cheval giving chase to make up a huge amount of ground from last place when finishing second ahead of a group of quality horses.
Reynier was thrilled with his horse, who was a 14-1 chance under Mickael Barzalona and did the stable proud on his final run as a four-year-old.
“It was great,” said the trainer. “He didn’t get the best run, as he was in a good position early on but he had to go behind Paddington and he ended up going backwards, unfortunately.
“He had to come back from behind and go around all the horses, it was almost impossible to make the second place but he was very courageous to give his all and go and beat the Aga Khan filly (Tahiyra) – it was just unbelievable.
“I thought he was going to struggle to finish but he is a swimmer, he loves that kind of ground.
“It feels like a win because Big Rock was unstoppable, we did what we could and finishing second was the maximum of his ability on the day.
“We weren’t too far from Big Rock on quick ground, so maybe one day we will be able to compete with him.”
Facteur Cheval will be given a break over the winter and could then be on his travels again in 2024, with Dubai and Newbury both mentioned as possible targets.
“It’s an amazing four-year-old campaign that he’s had, he’s been very consistent, even though he didn’t win a race this year,” Reynier added.
“He’s been second in the QEII, second in the Sussex, third in the Ispahan, third in the Moulin, they have been amazing achievements and we can’t wait for him to have a bit of a holiday and start off next year in good shape.
“He deserves a break, we could go to Dubai with him for the Dubai Turf for his reappearance.
“We’ll maybe come back to England for the Lockinge, he likes races with a lot of pace and sometimes in France he doesn’t get the pace he likes, we’ll see – we’ll talk to connections and we’ll decide together which is the best route to take.”
Dejan Kulusevski has acknowledged Tottenham have an advantage over their rivals with no European football this year and feels it could make the difference come the end of the season.
Spurs returned to the Premier League summit on Monday night with a 2-0 win over Fulham courtesy of goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison.
Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent side are next in action on Friday at Crystal Palace, where they could go five points clear at the top with a victory and while Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have European fixtures to contend with this week, Tottenham can focus purely on league action.
“Honestly, it helps a lot. Physically, I remember last season was very hard playing three games a week,” Kulusevski said.
“You feel very tired in the warm-ups. Also, mentally not having to travel to Spain or Italy to play games helps. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year.
“You can feel the difference and hopefully you will see even more at the end of the season.
“It is early because we will see what happens. Everything can change every day so we don’t need to talk about (title), but we must live for the day with a smile, train hard and not forget who we are. We must try to get better every day.
“It is not important what people say. The important thing is to work hard, be humble, listen to the coach and keep the smiles on faces. Then at the end of the season we will see where we are.”
Tottenham’s young side produced a mature display against Fulham, creating early chances before Son broke the deadlock in the 36th minute.
Calvin Bassey’s misplaced pass under pressure from Spurs’ press was latched onto by Micky van de Ven, touched into Richarlison where he recycled the ball for Son, who dribbled past Tim Ream and curled superbly into the top corner for his seventh goal of the campaign.
Son turned provider nine minutes after half-time when Bassey again gave away the ball and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fizzed possession into Son, who played in Maddison for his first home goal as a Tottenham player.
The hosts took their foot off the gas during the final exchanges with Fulham wasteful late on, which led to Postecoglou lambasting his team for taking “liberties” post-match.
Kulusevski added: “Number one, we have to keep playing football and that is why we are winning. We have to get back to playing the way we can and be ready for Friday.”
Spurs were without the suspended Yves Bissouma for the visit of Fulham, but Hojbjerg slotted in to good effect on his first league start of the season.
The Danish midfielder expressed his delight at starting and urged his team-mates to “live with the pressure” amid talk of a potential title challenge.
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“Honestly it felt amazing to play. It was really nice to play. It felt really good,” Hojbjerg said.
“First half I thought we played some good football. I think we had to score more than the one and second half we lost a bit of intensity. We let Fulham back into it but especially first half I thought was strong.
“It is up to the coach to analyse (second half) now and to show us a bit what we needed. Personally, I felt the quality on the ball dropped a bit, but again we always know the first game back from the internationals is always a challenge.
“I think it is game by game and it is important to try to improve. Improve every single week and try to see where we can take it. I think you have to live with the pressure, assume the pressure but again it is about improving and looking at yourself week in, week out.”
Richard Kingscote has paid a heartfelt tribute to Desert Crown after last year’s Derby winner was put down on Monday.
Kingscote had not long since ended his lengthy association with Tom Dascombe to ride for Sir Michael Stoute whenever Ryan Moore was unavailable in August 2021 when he partnered Desert Crown to a debut victory at Nottingham three months later.
The Nathaniel colt was not seen again until the following May in the Dante Stakes at York, where he impressed and then headed to the Derby as the favourite.
He cruised around Epsom, running out one of the most impressive winners in recent years, but sadly only made it to the track once more and eventually his injuries caught up with him.
Kingscote took to social media to say: “I have been asked about my thoughts on Desert Crown a few times.
“Firstly I’m most sorry for the staff at Sir Michael’s who adored him and who are all heartbroken.
“Secondly I’m sorry to racing fans in that we will never get to see how brilliant he could have been. And that I don’t have the vocabulary to explain how amazing he was.
“I will always be grateful to him for looking after me on those two big days last summer, he was a gentleman and an awesome racehorse.
“I feel blessed and somewhat embarrassed that it was me who got to feel his brilliance. RIP DC.”
Storm Babet continues to affect racing in Britain and Ireland, with this afternoon’s meeting at Yarmouth and tomorrow’s card at the Curragh the latest casualties.
There are also now inspections planned at Fontwell ahead of tomorrow’s fixture and at Clonmel for Thursday.
Yarmouth were forced to abandon their seven-race Flat card after an early-morning inspection, as “considerable rainfall overnight” left the track waterlogged.
Officials at the Curragh have cancelled Wednesday’s meeting following 21mm of rain last night, with the course currently unfit for racing and facing an unfavourable weather forecast.
Clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan said: “The forecast is for a further 5mm of rain today with the possibility of more rain moving in tomorrow, so there was no prospect of the situation improving here prior to racing.
“We’ve had a total of 77mm in the last week and the ground has been heavy since entries closed last Thursday.”
Fontwell have called a precautionary inspection for tomorrow morning at 7.30am.
The going is currently described as soft, good to soft in places, but “further significant rain” is expected this evening and early on Wednesday.
At Clonmel, the ground is heavy but currently fit for action ahead of racing on Thursday.
However, clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer reported: “Having spoken with Met Eireann, there is the possibility of a further 5-10mm of rain and some spot flooding tomorrow afternoon which will be on top of the 54mm of rain the track has had in the last week.
“With that additional rain forecast for tomorrow, we felt it was prudent to let people know as early as possible that we will need to have a precautionary inspection at 7.30am on Thursday morning.”
Last Saturday’s scheduled meetings at Stratford and Market Rasen were lost to the weather, along with Wednesday’s Worcester card and four upcoming fixtures at Southwell.
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