No inspections for Newbury and Haydock but conditions going to be testing

Mudlovers are in for a treat at the feature jumps meetings at Newbury and Haydock on Saturday, and officials at the tracks do not expect any problems despite describing conditions as heavy.

No inspections are planned at either venue and Richard Osgood, clerk of the course at Newbury, where the Grade 1 Betfred Challow Novices' Hurdle tops the bill, said on Friday: "The ground is heavy. We've had quite a lot of rain over Christmas but we've got no water lying on the course at all.

"We're expecting a bit more rain overnight, but the good thing is temperatures are then not going to drop. They're talking about 5C overnight, which is good news, then we'll have 3-5mm of rain at the most, which we could take.

"The rain lasted a bit longer than I expected today, but then we had very strong winds for an hour and a half."

Osgood's counterpart at Haydock, Kirkland Tellwright, added: "It'll be very heavy, but we don't expect any problems. We could have raced today. By the time we race tomorrow we could have had 10mm from this morning and that would be fine."

Conditions are likely to be better at Taunton, where the going is soft, and there was good news for Sunday's meeting at Warwick, with officials able to give the meeting the green light on Saturday morning after the track passed an inspection.

Friday's meeting at Doncaster fell victim to the weather but a good cause benefited from some of the food prepared for the day.

The track tweeted: "It's not all negative at Doncaster today, the abandonment means we can donate the raceday sandwiches and mince pies to the Central Family Hub."

That organisation offers a wide variety of free, fun and structured support services and activities for families with children.

Staff at Doncaster racecourse with the sandwiches and mince pies that the track donated to a good cause

Saturday cards