'It's been rotten luck' - drainage work to take place at Newton Abbot after track loses sixth meeting this year to waterlogging

Newton Abbot will carry out drainage work over the winter in a bid to combat waterlogging that has claimed Saturday's fixture, the sixth the course has lost this year.

The Devon course had been due to stage a seven-race card on Saturday, including a 2m5f intermediate chase which could have featured Turners Novices' Chase runner-up Ginny's Destiny. However, it was forced to call off the meeting three days before it was due to take place because of waterlogging.

"It's been terrible," acting clerk of the course Ben Robarts said on Wednesday morning. "We were raceable on Saturday, but then out of the blue we were hit by around 20mm of rain. It came out of nowhere and wasn't in the forecast.

"Since then it's just kept topping up. We had been on the cusp of being raceable, but the rain just tipped us over and the forecast isn't for improvement either."

It is the second meeting in a row Newton Abbot has lost to waterlogging, while it was forced to begin this year nearly two months later than originally planned after its first three fixtures were washed out. The track also cancelled a card in July because of wet weather.

"We were waterlogged for the first three fixtures, but with the last few it's been how quickly the sheer amount of rain has hit," Robarts added. "For example, the rain we've had this week dropped 20mm on us in an hour and it can't take that. Had it been 20mm of rain over a couple of days, it probably could take it.

Ginny's Destiny: could have been a star name on Saturday's cancelled cardCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"It's been the timing of the rain too which has cost us. If it happened a couple of days earlier or two to three days later we'd probably be okay."

Newton Abbot is already putting in place plans to help change the track's fortunes. It is due to stage its final fixture this year on October 30.

"We've had the wettest two years on our records and the track's in a funny place because it's on a floodplain," Roberts said. "We've got some drainage we're going to do next year. On the whole the track is very good, but there's a couple of areas we're going to improve.

"The track's not in a terrible state at all and it can be improved, so we'll also be doing little extra bits over the next few years as well. We're keen to get them done and we've got all of the equipment as the board has been very supportive to us.

"The groundstaff cannot be faulted either as they work so hard to keep the track in a brilliant way. It's just been rotten luck with the weather and its timings this year."

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