'If it's the higher end of rain it'll be a bit of a struggle' - Newbury calls for raceday inspection on Friday

Newbury has called an 8am inspection on raceday morning with rain forecast to hit the track before Friday's meeting.

The going is heavy, soft in places, and although it is expected to remain dry for the next couple of days, between 2-8mm of rainfall is expected in the early hours of Friday morning.

Clerk of the course George Hill said: "If we got the lower end we should be fine, but if it's the higher end it'll be a bit of a struggle and a risk to the meeting. 

"It's been a predominantly dry two days with just under 0.5m and a little bit of drizzle on Monday, but apart from that it's largely been dry. We're anticipating another couple of dry days ahead of us, but the tricky bit is the rain forecast on Friday morning. It still remains a low end of 2mm and a high end of 8mm, worst case scenario."

Newbury stages its final Flat fixtures of the season on Friday and Saturday, with the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes and Group 3 St Simon Stakes headlining the card on the latter.

On the prospect of racing on Saturday, Hill added: "We might get a further 1mm with showers, but it looks okay. There's other racing on and trainers need to make a decision on what to declare, so we're trying to be transparent to let everyone know.

"This time of year isn't ideal to be Flat racing for two days, but hopefully it'll be lower end and we can get the last two fixtures on."

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