Newcastle and Warwick abandoned Taunton will fly the flag for National Hunt racing in Britain this afternoon after the scheduled fixtures at Newcastle and Warwick were both abandoned. Officials at Newcastle announced a morning inspection for 8am but clerk of the course James Armstrong made a decision earlier then planned. He said: "There was no point in prolonging it. We had quite a positive day yesterday, but the rain we had was probably our undoing in the end as temperatures dropped again last night and the track is now very solid. "There's no chance we'll be raceable in time for racing, so we've had no option but to abandon, unfortunately." It was a similar tale of woe at Warwick, with the team drawing stumps without staging their planned 8am check. The racecourse posted on Twitter: " No further improvement overnight. Areas of patchy snow remain on the back straight, on top of ground which is already heavy. "Inspection brought forward and failed." Taunton stage an eight-race card featuring the rescheduled Peterborough Chase, which was saved from last Sunday's abandoned meeting at Huntingdon. There is also an all-weather card at Chelmsford, while no problems are anticipated ahead of the Irish jumps meeting at Tramore.
