Warwick off, but Newcastle still on

Today’s National Hunt meeting at Warwick has been abandoned but the jumps card at Newcastle survived an early-morning inspection.

Clerk of the course Tom Ryall had expressed concerns about waterlogging at Warwick after persistent rain had put the whole town on flood alert.

His fears proved warranted, with this afternoon’s fixture called off due to unsafe ground on parts of the course.

There was better news at Newcastle, where racing is scheduled to go ahead following a second inspection this morning.

Officials took a look at the track yesterday afternoon due to areas of standing water earlier in the week but it was deemed raceable.

The same view was taken this morning, although “conditions will continue to be closely monitored”.

Having lost their Fighting Fifth Hurdle card at the start of the month due to snow, today’s going is described as heavy, with a low risk of early showers before the weather should brighten up.

There will also be jumps racing at Taunton, where the ground is soft, good to soft in places, plus an all-weather Flat card at Chelmsford this evening.