Heavy rain puts valuable Bath card under threat

Bath's Good Friday meeting will have to pass an inspection after persistent rain put the fixture in question on Thursday night.

Clerk of the course Katie Stephens announced that officials would make a check of the course at 7.30am to determine whether the £175,000 card can go ahead.

Up to 34mm of rain has fallen at the track since last Friday with 11mm recorded on Thursday. Further showery outbreaks were forecast on Thursday evening and more rain on Friday afternoon after a dry morning.

Stephens said: "Due to the amount of rain that has fallen through today and the impact that has had on the track that has only just become evident we will be having a precautionary inspection at 7.30am to ensure that the track is raceable."

She added: "We had double the amount of rain forecast today. We are only expecting showery outbreaks tonight which could generate 2-3mm and I am just mindful that if I don't get that and get 10-15mm I would look a bit silly in the morning.

"I have walked it this evening. It is raceable but I wouldn't want another deluge like we had today without being able to assess the situation. I am optimistic but I am erring on the side of caution. It's our biggest day of the year and we are very keen to race."

The Good Friday card is due to be the first staged at the track since September, when a scheduled two-day fixture was reduced to a single all-sprints card after the far turn was damaged by an infestation of chafer bugs.