Dundalk's Friday evening card cancelled due to high winds as Storm Amy hits

Dundalk's Friday evening card has been cancelled due to persistent high winds after the arrival of Storm Amy.

A red alert has been issued by Met Eireann for parts of Ireland and, while the area for that severe warning does not cover Dundalk, the gusts were considered strong enough for the all-weather meeting to be cancelled.

The seven-race card had been due to start at 5.20pm, but was delayed by 25 minutes for conditions to be assessed. The decision was then made by the raceday stewards to abandon the fixture with the gusts not expected to ease in the near future, according to Met Eireann.

Lorcan Wyer, clerk of the course at Dundalk said: “It was only ever a yellow warning, and we’ve raced fairly often on a yellow warning before.

“I wasn’t overly concerned with the advanced forecast, but we had 15 gallopers before racing and they came and spoke with me to say ‘this is tough, particularly the gusty nature of the wind."

“Beyond the furlong pole and round the bend, where it is much more open, the earlier gallopers said even in a group of five there was significant movement sideways, and that’s just under working conditions.

“We kicked to touch and delayed racing for a bit, had the necessary chats with jockeys, vets, trainers and racecourse management.

“All we ever want is for the horse and rider to come home safe. Ultimately, it was the stewards who made the call and shared the concerns with the jockeys. They weren’t prepared to take a chance.”

Storm Amy's impact was also partially felt at Hexham on Friday, where an inspection was called after the first four races due to the gusts. Clerk of the course James Armstrong had hoped the meeting would pass without issue, but an additional look was required before racing continued.

Ascot: no issues expected ahead of Saturday's cardCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Yellow weather warnings for wind are in place more widely on Saturday, with meetings scheduled to take place at Ascot, Newcastle, Newmarket, Redcar and Wolverhampton. Ireland's two meetings come from the Curragh and Gowran Park.

Gusts of 50-60mph are likely in the northern half of Britain, rising to 70mph in exposed areas. Further south, gusts are likely to reach 45-55mph.

ITV's coverage is split across Newmarket (good ground), Ascot (good to soft) and Redcar (good, good to soft in places).

Ascot's clerk of the course Chris Stickels was not concerned before racing on Friday and said: "We've got a weather warning for wind on Saturday. It suggests gusts could get up to 40mph but I haven't got any concerns at this time. 

"Until we start getting these gusty winds and seeing what effect they have, you can't really tell. We've raced in 40mph gusts before though. 

"We should have showers throughout Friday afternoon but by Saturday most of that rain will have passed. It does look drier, but I imagine there will be sufficient rain before Saturday to change the ground again."

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