Wetherby and Fakenham set for morning inspections with heavy rain forecast

Officials at Wetherby are hopeful Thursday's card will go ahead as planned but have warned they are "not out of the woods" with a deluge of rain forecast ahead of an 8am inspection tomorrow.

The West Yorkshire track had 40mm of rainfall last week which resulted in the course being badly flooded and while the standing water has drastically reduced, the course is currently unraceable with conditions described as heavy, frozen in places, with frost affecting some of the take offs and landings at fences.

Despite passing its first inspection on Wednesday morning and an anticipated thaw throughout the day, officials at the track are worried about the prospects of a further 15mm of rain until 11am on raceday and will assess conditions ahead of the meeting for a second time.

Clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson said: "We couldn't race today, but since yesterday hopes have risen more than I anticipated as temperatures in the night must've risen quite rapidly and given the forecast we have on Wednesday, the frost should come out. I'm much more hopeful than I was 24 hours ago.

"I have in the back of my mind a slight worry about the amount of rain we're going to get – that's the only thing that is on the horizon – which will be about 15mm after midnight until 11am. While we've only got water off the track, we might find standing water again when it arrives.

"We're not out of the woods and we can only work with mother nature, but we're in a much better position than we were 24 hours ago."

Cheltenham and Doncaster confident of beating cold snap for weekend fixtures

Sanderson also praised the work of his groundstaff to get the track into the condition it is currently in following the flooding, but spoke of the challenges that lay ahead at the track.

"It's a process we are well-used to now. The river needs to drop and the track drains very quickly, the problem we've had is those lakes froze and it delayed everything by a day or so," he added. "If it thawed on Sunday I wouldn't be worried about the rain, but the track is wet.

"It is a challenge and we've plotted a path for the hurdles track to go around any of the worst areas. The boys working on the track have done a great job, but we are in the hands of the gods."

The other jumps fixture set to take place in Britain on Thursday at Fakenham must also pass a 7.30am inspection on raceday morning due to heavy rain forecast.

The Norfolk track is soft, heavy in places and is expecting 16mm of rain on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. Concerns about further rainfall has forced officials into checking conditions.

Huntingdon's Friday's card cancelled

Huntingdon's meeting on Friday has been cancelled due to flooding as the weather continues to wreak havoc with scheduled meetings across Britain.

The Cambridgeshire track had two inches of snowfall on Sunday which has since melted and further heavy rain meant the Alconbury Brook that surrounds the track burst its banks.

Officials had an inspection scheduled at 8am tomorrow but called off the fixture 48 hours before it was due to take place, with standing water on the course and some of the facilities at the track flooded.

Huntingdon's meeting for Friday was cancelled on Wednesday with areas of the track floodedCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Unfortunately the Alconbury brook has burst its banks as we expected it might," clerk of the course Jack Pryor said. "There are areas of the racetrack and facilities that are flooded as we speak, so there is little chance of improvement before Friday."

The card was set to feature the Listed Lady Protectress Mares' Chase and was more cancellation woe for Huntingdon after their January 15 meeting was also called off due to flooding.

Pryor added: "It's incredibly frustrating to have both meetings cancelled because we had two nice races scheduled for each fixture. We're disappointed on that front, but we have plenty more to look forward to and we'll start looking forward to the next meeting."

No jumps racing will take place in Britain on Wednesday after Wincanton and Catterick's cards were lost to the recent cold snap.

Weather prospects

Wednesday

Catterick
Cancelled (frozen)

Wincanton
Cancelled (waterlogged track)

Thurles
Soft to heavy
Outlook: Occasional showers on Tuesday with potential for heavy rain late afternoon on Wednesday.

Lingfield (AW)
Standard
Outlook: No reported problems.

Kempton (AW)
Standard to slow
Outlook: Conditions being monitored.

Thursday

Gowran Park
Heavy
Outlook: Showers forecast.

Fakenham
Soft, heavy in places
Outlook: 7.30am inspection on Thursday. Clerk of the course David Hunter said on the BHA Racing Admin going report: "Forecast: Wednesday night rain 8mm going into Thursday morning another 8mm. This forecast of rain does concern me, especially if more, hence precautionary inspection at 7.30am tomorrow morning."

Newcastle (AW)
Standard to slow
Outlook: Wednesday top temperature of 5C and partly cloudy with odd light shower. Thursday 4C day time. Likely to be wet with 10-15mm of rain.

Southwell (AW)
Standard to slow
Outlook: Thursday: Rain, heavy at times during the morning with a fresh westerly breeze.

Wetherby
Heavy, frozen in places
Outlook: 8am inspection on Thursday. Clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson: "I have in the back of my mind a slight worry about the amount of rain we're going to get – that's the only thing that is on the horizon – which will be about 15mm after midnight until 11am. While we've only got water off the track, we might find standing water again when it arrives."

Friday

Doncaster
Good to soft, soft in places
Outlook: Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan: "Temperatures are forecast to rise above freezing on Monday with a possible frost overnight before warming considerably from Tuesday onwards. After Tuesday there are no overnight frosts forecast so we expect it to thaw out. There is a chance of significant rain overnight Wednesday into Thursday but at the moment we think the ground is improving and we should cope with that without any problems."

Huntingdon
Cancelled (flooding)

Lingfield (AW)
Standard
Outlook: No reported problems.

Wolverhampton (AW)
Standard
Outlook: No reported problems.

Navan
Soft to heavy
Outlook: Weather becoming more unsettled from Tuesday onwards with spells of rain.

Dundalk (AW)
Standard
Outlook: Showers forecast

Saturday

Cheltenham
Soft, heavy in places
Outlook: Cold with wintry showers until Tuesday, milder with further rain from midweek. Clerk of the course Simon Claisse: "Looking at the forecast I expect we'll be heavy ground."

Doncaster
Good to soft, soft in places
Outlook: Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan: "Temperatures are forecast to rise above freezing on Monday with a possible frost overnight before warming considerably from Tuesday onwards. After Tuesday there are no overnight frosts forecast so we expect it to thaw out. There is a chance of significant rain overnight Wednesday into Thursday but at the moment we think the ground is improving and we should cope with that without any problems."

Fairyhouse
Heavy
Outlook: Rain over the coming days and turning drier towards the weekend.

Lingfield (AW)
Standard
Outlook: No reported problems.

Kempton (AW)
Standard to slow
Outlook: No reported problems.

Sunday

Fontwell
Heavy, waterlogged in places
Outlook: Week ahead predominantly wet. Officials will continue to monitor and update.

Uttoxeter
Going update to follow but nearly thawed
Outlook: 4.5 inches of snow now thawing, 2.6mm rain in last 24 hours. Rain (possibly heavy at times) forecast overnight tonight. Temperatures rising but will drop on Saturday night.

Naas
Soft to heavy
Outlook: Unsettled forecast.

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