Welcome boost for jump racing as meetings expected to go ahead

The British jump racing programme has been given a much-needed boost as all four meetings in the next two days are expected to go ahead after a testing spell of adverse weather and cancellations.

A succession of storms has decimated the calendar with 17 meetings called off in Britain and Ireland in the last ten days, including Sandown's Royal Artillery Gold Cup fixture last Friday. However, with only showers forecast, officials at Doncaster and Ludlow are confident racing will go ahead on Wednesday.

Wednesday's racecards

The ground at Doncaster is soft and a decision has been taken to rail off an area of standing water on the chase course.

"The ground is drying nicely. There was no rain overnight and we've had a bright and breezy morning. We're forecast between 2-5mm of rain and if that is correct we should be good to go," said raceday clerk of the course Paul Barker.

Huntingdon: hopeful the fixture will go aheadCredit: Edward Whitaker

Ludlow was also heavily affected by the poor weather and, following more than 75mm of rain since last Thursday, there was surface water around the bend by the stables on Monday.

The situation has improved and clerk of the course Simon Sherwood said: "We're racing tomorrow. We're due the odd shower and a bit of rain tomorrow, but nothing too serious early on.

"The surface water on the bend by the stables has gone but remains the wettest part of the course, so we may bypass that hurdle."

The prospects look brighter on Thursday, too, and Huntingdon clerk of the course Jack Pryor is confident the track will be fit to race.

"It's gradually improving and we're confident," he said. "There's still a small amount of standing water on the bend by the stables but that should be gone. There's only a few showers expected.

"It's a massive relief and flooding is one of the main challenges at Huntingdon but the track has coped extremely well."

The ground is heavy, soft in places at Sedgefield, which is set to stage a seven-race card on Thursday, although clerk of the course Michael Naughton is a little wary of the weather forecast.

"We've had a lot of rain over the last few days but would be able to race today," he said. "The problem is the forecast says we could get anywhere between 0.5-5mm tonight, and 2-8mm tomorrow. We're okay at the moment and will know more in the morning."

One track that has not been quite so lucky is Bangor. It has been badly hit by flooding, causing Tuesday's meeting to be cancelled last week, although general manager Jeannie Chantler has witnessed worse conditions during her time at the course.

She said: "It's horrible and keeping morale up isn't easy, especially after getting it all back in shape after the previous weekend's flooding, but it happens regularly here and we've had it worse.

"There's still an awful lot of water, but it drains very quickly once it starts and it's gone down significantly since Sunday."

Worcester has a history of flooding as it is only a matter of yards from the River Severn and the track has, not surprisingly, succumbed once again to the elements.

Clerk of the course Tim Long said: "Just like many other areas around Worcester the course is now fully submerged and I would estimate it's up to four feet in many places.

"It is just over two months to our first meeting of the year on April 24 so we are not panicking just yet as the water can go just as quickly as it arrived with a few dry days.

"However, I must admit I would like it to be gone by the middle of next week otherwise the timetable with all the reseeding of the course will be getting quite tight."

He added: "Ironically we had actually got on to the track ten days ago and were able to start preparing the turf but obviously we will have to start all over again once the way is clear."

At-a-glance weather prospects

Wednesday

Doncaster soft
Ludlow soft, heavy in places

Thursday

Huntingdon soft, good to soft in places (area of standing water)
Sedgefield heavy, soft in places

Friday

Exeter heavy, soft in places on the back straight
Warwick heavy, soft in places (areas of standing water)

Saturday

Chepstow heavy, waterlogged in places (currently unraceable)
Kempton soft, good to soft in places
Newcastle heavy, soft in places

Sunday

Fontwell heavy
Hereford heavy

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