'You can only water so much' - Goodwood clerk fears climate's impact on racing

As Britain sweltered on the first of two days under a red-alert heatwave, Goodwood's clerk of the course warned that rising temperatures and an attendant dearth of summer rainfall will become a growing issue for racing in the years ahead.

The British Horseracing Authority has been widely praised for its proactive efforts in changing the start and finish times of meetings during the hot weather, having announced last week the cancellation of five fixtures across Monday and Tuesday that fell within the geographical scope of the Met Office's first ever red warning for extreme heat with temperatures forecast to hit up to 41C.

Only Musselburgh will race in Britain on Tuesday as the pre-emptive action by the authority has put paid to the meetings at Southwell, Chelmsford and Wolverhampton.