'You wouldn't with all good conscience run through that' - Newton Abbot cancels meeting after heavy rain leaves track waterlogged

Monday's fixture at Newton Abbot has been cancelled after parts of the course were left waterlogged following morning rain.

With the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning for rain in the area, course officials scheduled an inspection for 11am, but the meeting was called off at 10am.

The ground was already described as soft, heavy in places with up to 20mm of rain forecast during the day.

An hour before the 11am inspection, a false area of ground was found at the winning line with no way of bypassing it. 

Clerk of the course Jason Loosemore said: "We've had 5mm of rain so far this morning and have found an area on the winning line for about 20 yards, where we've broken the ground previously, which has just not taken the rain well at all.

"There's more rain coming, so it's not going to get any better, and even if we had a dry afternoon you wouldn't with all good conscience run through that.

"I felt quite optimistic walking round again, but sadly that's where we are."

England's wait for tournament success continues after 2-1 defeat to Spain in Euro 2024 finalCredit: Eddie Keogh - The FA

The card had featured the Well Done England Euro Champions 2024 Handicap Chase (4.35), which was a bit of an own goal following England's 2-1 defeat by Spain in Sunday night's final in Berlin.

The race title cannot be altered once declarations have been made.

"I don't know an awful lot about the sponsor and what the rationale was, but I thought it was brave at the time," said Loosemore.

"For a minute, I thought it was going to come to fruition when we equalised last night but it was massively disappointing.

"It's a race that isn't there forever and is gone. I thought it was quite clever actually. I heard them talking about it on the local radio the other day and it highlights the racecourse and the racing."

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