Friday’s card at Bangor has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Early on Thursday afternoon, it became apparent the course could be in difficulty when an inspection was called for 4pm due to areas of the track being under water.

With rain, sleet and snow all falling, the decision was an easy one as the two furlongs after the winning line were under water, with further rain forecast.

Thursday afternoon’s meeting at Doncaster was called off due to heavy snow.

Having initially passed an early morning inspection, snow began to fall about an hour before the first race.

As the opening contest approached at 12.55pm, it was snowing heavily and by the time the jockeys had entered the paddock to mount, an inspection was called.

A deputation of course officials, jockeys and stewards went out on the track but even in the short time that took, visibility was getting worse and the meeting was soon abandoned.

Clerk of the course Paul Barker told Sky Sports Racing: “It’s very disappointing.

“When I walked it this morning, it was nice and we’d had nothing overnight. I walked it again at 10.30am with the stewards panel chair and it had just started to sleet and no snow, but nothing was settling.

“Jockeys were arriving and so were the trainers – and all were happy.

“Then about 45 minutes before the first, the snow started falling heavier and never really stopped.

“Concerns were raised by everybody during the inquiry and I spoke to the weather station, who said we had about 45 minutes more snow and then it wasn’t going to thaw.

“You just can’t beat Mother Nature.”

Doncaster was not the only fixture called off on raceday, with officials at Thurles cancelling their card due to heavy rain.

Friday’s National Hunt fixture at Kempton is also subject to a precautionary inspection at 7.30am due to the threat of rain.

This afternoon’s meeting at Doncaster has been called off due to heavy snow.

Having initially passed an early morning inspection, snow began to fall about an hour before the first race.

As the opening contest approached at 12.55pm, it was snowing heavily and by the time the jockeys had entered the paddock to mount, an inspection was called.

A deputation of course officials, jockeys and stewards went out on the track but even in the short time that took, visibility was getting worse and the meeting was soon abandoned.

Clerk of the course Paul Barker told Sky Sports Racing: “It’s very disappointing.

“I walked it this morning it was nice and we’d had nothing overnight. I walked it again at 10.30am with the stewards panel chair and it had just started to sleet and no snow but nothing was settling.

“Jockeys were arriving and so were the trainers and all were happy.

“Then about 45 minutes before the first, the snow started falling heavier and never really stopped.

“Concerns were raised by everybody during the inquiry and I spoke to the weather station who said we had about 45 minutes more snow and then it wasn’t going to thaw.

“You just can’t beat Mother Nature.”

Doncaster was not the only fixture called off on raceday, with officials at Thurles cancelling their card due to heavy rain.

Friday’s fixture at Kempton is also subject to a precautionary inspection at 7.30am due to the threat of rain, while Bangor’s card will have to pass an initial 4pm inspection with the course currently waterlogged.

This afternoon’s meeting at Doncaster will go ahead as planned but the card at Leicester must pass a second inspection at 10.30am.

Shortly after 7am Doncaster’s clerk of the course Paul Barker was confident temperatures had not dropped sufficiently to cause a problem but it was a different story for Jimmy Stevenson at Leicester.

By 8am the temperature on course had dropped to a chilly -4C but it is forecast to rise to 4C or 5C later on. Whether it rises in time remains to be seen.

There are also issues at Wincanton on Friday where clerk of the course Dan Cooper and his team have called an 8.30am check for raceday.

The course is currently frozen in places with temperatures potentially going as low as -3C before racing.

Doncaster clerk of the course Paul Barker is confident Wednesday’s meeting will go ahead if the weather forecast is accurate.

There was a slight grass frost on Tuesday morning and with similar temperatures forecast overnight, a precautionary inspection has been called for 8am.

However, Barker reports the course to have been frost-free by 10am on Tuesday and as long as the weather does not differ widely from what is expected, no problems are anticipated.

“We were raceable by 10am today after being a little bit crispy this morning. The forecast is pretty similar for tonight, although it is due to get cooler earlier tonight,” said Barker.

“Because this morning was a little crispy, we felt it was only right that we called an inspection but if the forecast is right, we should be OK.

“We’ve got some really good fields which is great to see. We had a relatively good mid-December fixture and were a little bit quieter on the 29th.

“It’s bizarre really as this fixture did exactly the same last year, we had 90 runners then, so it is obviously one that works really well.”

There is also a precautionary 8am inspection for Wednesday’s other jumps card at Leicester.

“It just depends on the forecast. We’re hoping it clouds over to keep the temperatures up, but it went down to -3C last night and it’s taken a bit of shifting,” said clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson.

“I wouldn’t want it as cold tomorrow but it is not forecast to be, so that is what we are hoping for. We won’t know until the morning, though.

“Today was supposed to be the coldest day, so that is what we are hoping for.”

Officials at Doncaster will carry out a precautionary inspection at 7:30am ahead of Friday’s meeting due to the threat of further rain.

Conditions on Town Moor are described as heavy but raceable ahead of what is scheduled to be a two-day fixture, with Saturday’s card due to feature the Group One Kameko Futurity Trophy.

Doncaster’s clerk of the course Paul Barker admits any rainfall over the next 24 hours would be problematic with Friday’s racing in mind.

He said late on Thursday afternoon: “We’ve had more rain than was forecast initially this morning. We’re OK at the moment, just, so it’s a case of what tonight brings us and tomorrow morning really.

“Some of the forecasters are saying we might get some more rain tonight, which we wouldn’t really want, and tonight is going to be a foggy, damp evening whatever happens. We won’t necessarily get a lot of rain, but it won’t dry anywhere.

“We don’t really want any more rain in any way, shape or form as we’re nearly as capacity.”

Assessing the prospects of Saturday’s high-profile meeting going ahead, Barker added: “The forecast after tonight’s threat of showers is relatively dry, although they did tell me that this morning and we got more rain than we were expecting today.

“It’s a bit more misty and foggy than wet. If it stays dry, with the time we’ve got before we race on Saturday, I’d be hopeful we could be in a better place.

“We could be here in the morning and be good to go on Friday and no problems for Saturday, but we just felt to be fair to everyone we’d hold a precautionary inspection.”

Friday’s meeting at Newbury has already been called off, with Saturday’s card also under threat due to a waterlogged track.

The Berkshire venue had 13 millimetres of rain on Wednesday and a further 3.8mm overnight on already heavy ground, leaving some areas of the course unraceable ahead of Friday’s fixture.

Saturday’s card is due to feature two Group Three contests in the BetVictor Horris Hill and St Simon Stakes, plus the Listed Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Stakes which is better known as the Radley.

However, the track must pass a 2pm inspection on Friday if the meeting is to go ahead.