Meetings lost at Haydock, Uttoxeter, Newton Abbot as wet weather causes issues

Haydock's Thursday evening card was abandoned because of waterlogging after an early-morning inspection.

A further 10mm of overnight rain left conditions unraceable at the Merseyside track, which had already been badly hit by the downpours of the past week.

Uttoxeter's meeting on Thursday also bit the dust, with more than 100mm of rainfall reported over the previous six days.

Both Nottingham and Yarmouth, also subject to inspections, were passed fit to race.

Almost 90mm of rain had fallen at Nottingham since Monday, leaving areas of standing water in the public enclosures a concern, but the meeting did get the go-ahead.

Also lost to the weather was Friday's card at Newton Abbot, with the track left waterlogged, while Saturday's meeting at Leicester is subject to a 2pm inspection on Friday.

The course has been hit by the same amount of rain in the last four days as it received in a three-month period last year.

Clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson told RacingTV.com: "The problem has been that we have had the same amount of rain every day since we raced on Monday and that hasn't given us much chance for the ground to repair," he said.

"It's rained on and off on Thursday and the forecast is similar for Friday - we need to hope that we avoid the worst of the showers now, as we are already waterlogged in places."

The picture, at least, looks better for the remaining fixtures on Friday, with the weather forecast looking a little better in most parts of the country.

Ed Arkell, clerk of the course at Goodwood, said: "We're soft, but we've had only a really negligible amount of rain on Thursday and the forecast is considerably more positive ahead of racing."

FRIDAY'S GOING & WEATHER UPDATE (correct as at 4pm Thursday)

YORK - Good to Soft (4mm rain Wednesday, Thursday mainly dry, Sunshine and showers Friday)

SANDOWN - Soft, Good to Soft in places (5mm rain Wednesday, Showers Thursday, Drier forecast Friday)

CHEPSTOW - Soft, Heavy in places (11m rain Wednesday, 5-10mm expected Thursday, Further showers Friday)

NEWTON ABBOT ABANDONED

AINTREE - Soft, Good to Soft in places (26mm rain Wednesday, Showers Thursday, Possible rain at first, dry later Friday)

GOODWOOD - Soft (4.6mm rain Wednesday, Less than 1mm rain Thursday, Dry and sunny spells Friday)

CORK - Good to Yielding

FAIRYHOUSE - Good