Doncaster's weather woes increase as fourth meeting in row is cancelled

Doncaster's jumps season will not begin until the middle of December at the earliest after the cancellation of Saturday's meeting due to waterlogging.

It is the fourth meeting in a row lost to the elements when the decision to call off the fixture was taken on Thursday afternoon after an inspection.

The final two Flat meetings of the season scheduled at Town Moor were also called off. The Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy was rescheduled at Newcastle and the November Handicap meeting, the traditional end of the Flat turf season, also cancelled.

Severe flooding has wreaked havoc in South Yorkshire and the racecourse has been unable to handle the unprecedented levels of rainfall.

Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan said on Thursday: "We just couldn't cope with the additional nine millimetres of rainfall we've had since yesterday when we abandoned Friday's card.

"The water table is so high. There is an area of standing water between the seventh and eighth fence which has never stood water before. It is in the wrong place and we just can't find a passage round it."

Attentions will now turn to the course's scheduled meetings on December 13 and 14 and Duncan added: "We will concentrate our efforts on protecting the fixtures going forward. We've had a consultant in and have other people coming in tomorrow. We're doing everything we can to address the situation."

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