Storm Bert: High winds and heavy rainfall put Hereford and Wetherby meetings under threat

Racecourses across Britain are forced to play a waiting game to see if their tracks will recover in time from the effects of Storm Bert. 

More than 100 flood warnings were put in place on Monday as a result of heavy rainfall and high winds, with several racecourses already impacted by the extreme conditions. 

Meetings at Exeter and Cork were called off on Sunday, due to the storm. Fixtures at Hereford and Wetherby on Wednesday are under threat due to waterlogging.

Wetherby clerk Jonjo Sanderson is prepared to give the track every chance over the next 24 hours. 

He said: "We had 41 millimetres over the weekend. The delayed effect of that is the rising river and our internal drainage pipes went over the top. It's resulted in a large area of standing water on Monday and for that to recede we need the river to drop.

"We know it can drop very quickly, which is what happened ahead of the Charlie Hall last year, so at the moment we can see from the outlet that it's going now – it's just a matter of how quickly."

Leicester clerk Jimmy Stevenson has more time than Wetherby for conditions to improve, with the hurdles track waterlogged ahead of the Sunday fixture.

"Like everyone else, we've had a really stormy weekend and it's just resulted in waterlogging in areas of the track," Stevenson said. "We're just battling against that at the moment and we'll see where we are in a few days' time. 

"We've got a more positive forecast after Wednesday. It'll be a slow drying process, but right now there's not much more we can do." 

While Exeter's track fared much better than other courses in Britain and Ireland, the meeting was called off due to safety concerns after tiles came loose in the wind. 

Gusts of more than 60mph hit the area and the track is in a race against time to be ready for its meeting next week. 

Clerk Jason Loosemore said: "Water poured in through the ceiling and hit the light fittings, which is another issue to deal with. We had wind speeds of up to 63mph that morning and it's probably what took out the tiles."

Storm Bert has caused substantial flooding elsewhere in Britain, with Stratford, closed until the new year, submerged in water. Flooding has affected the town of Newton Abbot but the track has fared better than some of its surroundings. 

Clerk Ben Robarts said: "It's waterlogged but it's not as bad as it could be. I expected it to be much worse. 

"The worst of the town's flooding is right by the racecourse but we're quite well protected here. The river nearly broke the wall by the paddocks, which was a huge height, but luckily it didn't."

Read more: 

What's on this week: huge jumps cards keep coming with Coral Gold Cup day at Newbury and Mystical Power and Sir Gino clashing at Newcastle 

Find out who remains in contention for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and Coral Gold Cup on Saturday 

Christmas Hurdle looks 'realistic' for Constitution Hill after minor setback says Nicky Henderson 

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