Nottingham joins list of cancelled meetings as heavy rain continues

Nottingham's first Flat meeting of the year on Wednesday was called off on Monday morning after the track failed to pass an inspection due to heavy rain. 

The Midlands track was set to stage its season opener featuring the Listed Further Flight Stakes, but had to abandon plans when the course failed to recover from significant rainfall last week. 

Despite a dry weekend, the return of showers on Sunday evening and a wet forecast meant conditions were unraceable after an 8am inspection. The course was one of two fixtures to be called off on Monday alongside Redcar, which was due to race that afternoon but suffered from waterlogging. 

"It's really disappointing but the weather has done its worst," Nottingham's clerk of the course Alice Cosgrove said. "We had two dry days over the weekend but there was more rain overnight, there is more forecast, and there isn't the opportunity for it to dry enough before racing. There are wet spots in the home straight which are unavoidable."

Nottingham is one of two cancelled meetings on Wednesday's fixture list after Sedgefield was forced to call off its meeting as early as last week as a result of the challenging weather. 

Scattered rain is expected across much of Britain and Ireland and will likely soften conditions for the next few days, with Stratford already reporting waterlogging ahead of its Saturday fixture. 

The jumps venue plans to omit two fences due to standing water on the track after 43 millimetres of rain last week and more showers forecast. 

Redcar will hold its next meeting on April 15, while Nottingham is back in action on April 20. 

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