Flooding forces Wetherby abandonment

Wetherby is the latest track to be hit by the recent spell of wet weather with Friday's meeting called off following an inspection.

Officials assessed the conditions on Wednesday morning after a weekend deluge left the course

heavy, with flooding down the back straight.

An 11am check was called and that inspection showed no improvement and with further rain anticipated, an early decision to cancel the meeting was made.

The course tweeted: "Unfortunately, we've had a further five millimetres of rain in the last 48 hours and we've still got extensive areas of flooding."

Wednesday's meeting at Leopardstown was also abandoned following an impromptu 8.30am inspection.

A morning check was deemed necessary after overnight rain was heavier than expected.

The track tweeted: "Following greater overnight rainfall than anticipated and with further rain this morning, parts of the track have been left unfit for racing with no improvement expected."

Thursday's turf card at Musselburgh has already been cancelled, leaving Warwick to fly the flag.

However, the team there will hold a further inspection at 2pm ahead after an initial look at 8am on Wednesday showed the track to still be unraceable.

Areas of standing water on the course are reported to have reduced, but further rain is expected on Wednesday.

Wexford were due to inspect at 2pm on Wednesday, but officials made an early decision to cancel the card. The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board said: "The course was found to be partially waterlogged, while further rain is forecast. As a consequence the fixture scheduled for Friday has been cancelled." reopens A Wednesday inspection also confirmed the worst for Warwick, with their meeting on Thursday abandoned. Some areas of standing water were reported, together with false patches of ground in the back straight. reopens The British Horseracing Authority has announced an additional National Hunt fixture will take place at Fakenham on Saturday. Stuart Middleton, BHA racing operations manager said: "We are grateful to Fakenham for stepping in to stage this additional fixture after the recent spate of abandonments, and our thanks as always go to the Horserace Betting Levy Board for their support. "The programme of races has been compiled following an assessment of the races lost recently due to the wet weather and should provide a breadth of opportunities for the horse population as well as some competitive racing for participants and the public." reopens The fixture abandoned at Leopardstown has been moved to the same track on April 16. And following the announcement that Tipperary has been cancelled next Tuesday due to waterlogging, the meeting scheduled for that venue will take place at Dundalk on the same date.