Ground expected to stay soft at Newmarket this weekend with more heavy rain forecast

The ground at Newmarket is expected to stay soft for the remaining two days of the Cambridgeshire meeting, according to clerk of the course Andrew Morris, with heavy rain set to continue on Thursday night.

Conditions eased from good to soft after a downpour early in the opening card of the meeting and the forecast is for more rain before day two.

It is expected to dry up before racing starts on Friday, when there are two Group 2 events on the card, and sunny spells are in the forecast for Saturday.

Morris said on Thursday: "We had a heavy shower between the first and third race, which changed the ground to soft, and we'll get further showers throughout the day and into the morning.

"From Friday morning it's a drier picture, although I expect we'll be staying as soft for the next couple of days. It's uncertain how much rain we'll get."

A yellow weather warning is in place across the south of England and Wales and an amber warning for parts of the Midlands including Worcester, where racing is set to take place on Friday.

Clerk of the course Libby O'Flaherty expects conditions to be fine for Worcester's jumps card, which includes the £70,000 Dragonbet Fixed Brush Hurdle Series Final, with heavy rain expected to clear by 10am.

She said on Thursday afternoon: "We're going to get heavy rain overnight, forecast as 18-25mm, but it'll clear up in the morning. We should be fine and we're good to soft at the moment. The rain is localised, so we'll see what we get."

Sunday's meeting at Ffos Las was cancelled on Thursday due to waterlogging after 23mm of rain hit the track overnight. The west Wales course has had 128mm of rain in September.

Read Friday's previews:

Course specialist Time Lock 'in great nick' for bid to repeat last year's Dubai Stakes win  

Can unbeaten Formal prove herself latest star filly for master trainer Sir Michael Stoute against O'Brien battalion?  

'Everything looks in his favour' - expert analysis and trainer quotes for an ultra-competitive Group 2 Joel Stakes  

Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.