Lingfield's Tuesday card survived - how are things looking for the week ahead?

Lingfield's seven-race card went ahead after the track passed an inspection on Tuesday – but how are things shaping up for the week ahead?

An inspection was called for 7.30am at Lingfield with standing water on the track on Monday, but the card continue as planned.

"We're all okay," said clerk of the course George Hill. "We've had 12 hours of dry weather and it's drained through."

Although Sandown passed a similar inspection on Sunday morning, the meeting was abandoned after three races due to torrential rain leading to safety issues for medical vehicles.

The outlook elsewhere

Carlisle, like Sandown, fell victim to heavy rain and was forced to abandon Monday's card after officials saw a "few areas of concern" on both the chase and hurdle courses prior to racing.

It is a different story at Huntingdon, Newcastle and Taunton however, where officials are still having to water in order to make their courses raceable for this week's meetings.

Extremes of weather have made it a challenging spell for courses across the country, with Taunton forced to cancel its last two fixtures due to quick ground, one in the spring and the latest on October 26.

The going is good to firm ahead of Thursday's six-race card at the Somerset track, meaning officials have continued to water despite the ongoing heavy rain.

Upwards of 20mm was applied to the course last week, with further watering on Monday on top of 28.5mm of rain since Thursday. After further showers, drier weather is expected from Wednesday.

Leicester's fixture next Monday has the opposite problem, with the track announcing on Monday that it had cancelled the meeting's two races over fences, with the going firm on the chase course and little rain in the forecast. A handicap hurdle has been added, with the fixture now an all-hurdles six-race card.

Plumpton should be 'fine for racing' on November 14 despite heavy rainCredit: Edward Whitaker

Plumpton has had 207mm of rain since its last race meeting on Monday, October 31. Further rainfall arrived on Monday and Tuesday, but the remainder of the week looks to be predominately dry before the next fixture at the Sussex course on November 14.

Marcus Waters, clerk of the course at Plumpton, said: "The track is taking it surprisingly well, considering how much rain we've had. The dry spell towards the end of the week should make us fine for racing, but we've probably been hit with the most rain across the country.

"Every shower seems to be pretty heavy and we've had a fair bit more than others, but the course is holding up well."

It has been quite the challenge for Waters and his team as the average rainfall for the area in November is 91mm.

He said: "Sometimes the best thing is to do nothing and let the weather run its course. You don't want to put any extra water on the track when conditions have been difficult. We repaired the track a couple of days after our last meeting when we had a dry day."

Wednesday

Ayr
Going: Soft
Weather: 5mm of rain in the past 24 hours and further rain expected

Bangor
Going: Soft, heavy in places (hurdle), heavy, soft in places (chase)
Weather: Cloudy with brighter spells and showers

Dundalk
Going: Standard
Weather: Mostly cloudy

Kempton
Going: Standard to slow
Weather: Showers on Tuesday

Thursday

Chelmsford
Going: Standard
Weather: Unsettled

Market Rasen
Going: Good to soft
Weather: 22mm of rain last week and potential of 10mm of rain this week

Newcastle
Going: Good, good to firm in places) (watering)
Weather: 4mm of rain on Monday night

Taunton
Going: Good, good to firm in places
Weather: 28.5mm of rain since last Thursday. Showers on Monday and Tuesday, but dry on Wednesday and Thursday

*Going descriptions correct as of Wednesday, November 9

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