Lingfield and Southwell off but Kelso survives as Storm Eunice wreaks havoc

Lingfield and Southwell's Friday meetings have been called off after both courses failed morning inspections due to the adverse conditions of Storm Eunice.

The Met Office issued weather warnings across Britain on Friday morning, with an amber warning given to much of England in addition to red warnings in the south-east and south-west.

Lingfield became the third meeting to be called off after Dundalk and Fakenham were cancelled on Thursday, with Southwell's evening meeting following suit at 10am due to the anticipated high winds which are set to cause disruption to travel across Britain and Ireland.

Southwell's clerk of the course Sophie Candy said: "Although it's relatively calm at the moment it's very clear from all the forecasts we're getting that we're not going to be getting less than 50mph winds today. Some forecasts predict up to 70-80mph, so on the grounds of safety we've decided to unfortunately abandon the meeting.

"It's going to start picking up anytime from midday and they don't see it dropping anytime soon. We wanted to give it every chance that we could while being fair to everyone. At the end of the day, safety is our main concern."

Friday's racecards

Lingfield's all-weather meeting, which falls within the red weather warning area issued on Friday, was called off following an 8am inspection.

Raceday clerk of the course Stephanie Wethered said: "We've had to abandon today's meeting due to the high winds and the red weather warning issued for the area.

"The red warning for London and the south-east comes into effect at 10am, so it's partly precautionary but the gales are already going."

'We get bad weather up here anyway, so this is nothing'

Kelso, which hosts a seven-race jumps fixture, remains one of the few meetings on Friday still set to go ahead after being cleared for racing this morning, while evening racing at Southwell will be subject to a 10am inspection.

Kelso clerk Matthew Taylor said: "We've got a bit of blue sky at the moment and a very mild wind but nothing major. We're expecting rain to come in about midday and then some gusts at 3pm.

"It could reach around 30-35mph, but we get bad weather up here anyway, so this is nothing.

"We will monitor the forecast throughout the day but we have our own microclimate here and it's come through for us, we've been very lucky.

"We had 3mm of rain and 1mm of snow this morning but that's all gone now. I've spoken to the trainers and only one isn't able to make it, everyone else is happy to travel, so we're happy to race."

Storm warning sees numerous greyhound tracks cancel Friday fixtures

Friday's greyhound racing has been decimated with numerous fixtures called off.

Hove and Towcester had already cancelled their Friday fixtures on Thursday and, following the Met Office extending a red warning to include London and the south-east overnight, Crayford, Monmore, Romford, Harlow, Swindon and Central Park followed on Friday morning.

Ian Smyth, director of racing for Entain, said: "I have cancelled the remaining three meetings today given the extension of the red weather warning to cover such a wide area of the UK.

"Crayford and Monmore would be racing through the worst of the storm and I can't justify asking trainers or staff to travel in such difficult weather conditions to either track or to Romford this evening.

"With disruption at the Dartford Bridge, trainers would be having to set off with the storm at its height to arrive at the track in good time.

"Hopefully everybody – trainers, colleagues and greyhounds – can stay safe through what looks like being an awful day."
Jonathan Kay

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