Blitz of non-runners hits Britain following downpours

More than 50 non-runners have been declared across the country before racing on Tuesday after heavy rain caused significant alterations to going descriptions.

Chepstow's eight-race Flat card has been the worst hit in terms of the number of runners pulled out, with almost 20 horses scratched following almost an inch of rain at the Welsh venue in the last 48 hours.

A total of 102 horses were declared on Sunday with the ground good, good to firm in places but by Monday afternoon, clerk of the course Keith Ottesen changed the description to soft as the rain set in.

"We've gone to good ground on Monday morning at about 8am after 6mm of rain through Sunday and overnight into Monday. We had 10mm on Monday by 3.30pm, so it was pretty easy to call it soft," Ottesen explained.

"There was no point waiting until Tuesday morning to change it, with people travelling a long way with their horses. We ended up with 15mm in total on Monday and from midnight we've had another 6mm, bringing the total since Sunday to 24mm, which is near enough an inch of rain."

Despite the non-runners, Ottesen is upbeat about the day's racing as a whole, with the number of runners still healthy and some connections having been hoping the rain would come, although he is concerned about further rain making conditions any more testing throughout the afternoon.

"Anybody who wants soft ground will be delighted," he said. "I had trainers calling me on Sunday dying for rain. We're still going to have a lot of runners, despite the non-runners that you'd expect with such a change in the going.

"The ground is not desperate by any means but the forecast for the rest of the afternoon is for scattered showers and windy and if we get that during racing when the ground is opened up, it won't help at all."

There was a similar story at Wetherby on Tuesday morning, where another eight-race Flat meeting will take place. Runners were declared on Sunday on good to firm ground but downpours have seen the description changed to good to soft, soft in places.

Clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson is anticipating a further ease in the going by the time racing begins at 2.10.

"We've had 16mm in the 24 hours to 6am and a further 2mm since then on Monday morning, which was always forecast," said Sanderson.

"The forecast was for rain on Tuesday morning, which we've had, but overcast, dry and a bit breezy for the rest of the day. That shouldn't dry the track out particularly and I think the ground will continue to ease nearer to soft by the time we start racing."

None of the day's three other meetings have been as badly affected by non-runners, although three have been pulled out of Fontwell's fixture due to the going, with the ground good, good to soft in places. Five runners, meanwhile, are out of Southwell's evening jumps fixture because of the going.

Only two of the seven non-runners at Yarmouth are due to the conditions.

Full list of non-runners as of 1pm

Chepstow

2.00 3. ARIZONA MIST (Going), 4. CHANGING - Self Cert (Fell) and 14. UTTERLY CHARMING (Going)
2.30 5. FANTASY QUEEN (Going), 7. JUMPING JACK (Going), 8. SUITSUS (Going) and 14. LIVING LEADER (Going)
3.00 1. SPARKLING COSSACK (Going), 5. BEEPEECEE (Going), 7. POLKADOT PRINCESS (Going), 13. LESANTI (Going), 14. HARLEQUIN ROSE (Going) and 17. TWADDLE (Going)
4.00 10. ORITHIA (Going)
4.30 9. REALLY SUPER (Going)
5.00 3. SEA SOVEREIGN (Going)
5.30 1. TUOLUMNE MEADOWS (Going), 3. WHAT A SCORCHER (Going), 5. SMOOTH OPERATOR (Going), 11. PETRIFY (Going) and 15. KING'S COINAGE (Going)

Fontwell

5.50 1. DITES RIEN (Going)
6.50 3. DOYEN DYNAMO (Going)
7.20 6. MILLE NAUTIQUE (Going)
8.50 4. REPRESENTED (Going)

Southwell

6.05 7. NO NO CARDINAL (Going)
6.35 8. MIDNIGHT CHOIRISTER (Going)
7.35 3. BREAKING GROUND - Self Cert (Cut Leg), 4. PARWICH LEES - Self Cert (Not Eaten Up), 6. TELMADELA (Going) and 7. MCELLIGOTT (Going)
8.35 5. OUR THREE SONS - Self Cert (Not Eaten Up)
9.05 6. RIDGEWAY PEARL (Going)

Wetherby

2.10 4. STOPWATCH (Going), 6. FLO'S MELODY (Going) and 9. TIME FOR TREACLE (Going)
2.40 7. VEGAS BOY (Going)
3.10 8. DREAMOFDISCOVERY - Self Cert (Bad Scope)
3.40 7. MISS RANGER (Going) and 9. COMPETITION (Going)
4.10 3. SHAMAHEART (Going), 4. MON BEAU VISAGE (Going), 6. FIRE TREE - Self Cert (Heat in Leg) and 7. BILLY ROBERTS (Going)
4.40 3. SWORD EXCEED (Going), 4. MERLIN (Going), 6. RED GUNNER (Going) and 10. HALAWAIN (Going)
5.10 5. NUNCIO (Going)
5.40 3. HALLINGHAM (Going) and 5. SAINT THOMAS (Going) and 10. CHAUVELIN (Going)

Yarmouth

2.20 6. ZAIN FLASH (Travel)
2.50 4. ADDEYBB (Going) and 7. JUS PIRES - Self Cert (Off Colour)
3.50 6 RUPERT BOY (Going)
4.50 8. THE HAPPY HAMMER Self Cert - (Lame)
5.20 10. HERM (Travel) and 12. BROTHER IN ARMS - Self Cert (Not Eaten Up)

Keep up to date with the latest going news and non-runners from all of Tuesday's meetings with Raceday Live.

Tuesday's cards