Improvement in conditions means Wetherby goes ahead on Monday

Wetherby's fixture on Monday will go ahead as planned despite officials at the track doubting it would survive over the weekend following heavy rain.

An inch of rain during the week had forced the track to hold an inspection on Saturday morning after the course was left waterlogged in a number of areas before a further check was pencilled in for Sunday.

However, significant improvement in conditions meant that inspection was scrapped with the course raceable ahead of a seven-race card starting at 1.45.

Clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson said: "It will be heavy, horrible ground and we were left waterlogged in a number of areas on Friday morning. I wasn't convinced they would go, given the dykes and rivers around here, but by Saturday morning they had gone down very quickly.

Wetherby card and betting

"We had been touch and go on Saturday in getting away with racing, but given the forecast today I was reasonably confident. As it happens we only got an extra 1mm which wasn't forecast last night, so we're just on heavy ground."

The rain has left an impact on the track, however, with two fences and a hurdle set to be omitted as well as an alternative run-in for the chase races, while further obstacles could be taken out on Monday.

"We've had to take out the last fence and hurdle down the back because we've got a really bad, wet patch on the inside line," Sanderson added.

"We're pushing everything through a narrow gap at the bottom of the track there, and the last fence in front of the stands has been taken out too as the run-in is very wet.

"We'll take the chase run-in out and take everything up the hurdles track. At the moment it's just those three, but we'll see how the rest are in the morning."

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