York loses battle with weather

York have been forced to abandon the rest of this week's Ebor meeting due to a waterlogged track.

Having already lost the first two days of the four-day fixture, clerk of the course William Derby called a noon inspection for today to assess the prospects for the cards on Thursday and Friday.

However, with further rain this morning and no sign of significant improvement in the near future, officials were left with no option but to cancel the cards for the rest of the week.

Derby said: 'Unfortunately we have had to abandon the rest of the meeting as the track is waterlogged in places and there is no prospect of it drying out.

'It is obviously disappointing, both for the connections of the horses and the whole team. It's hugely frustrating and to be beaten by the elements is a very humbling experience.

'We're determined to carry on with our drainage project to help guard against this in the future. We have had an unbelievable amount of rainfall and the course could just not take any more.

'We had a shower this morning and that has just compounded the situation. The BHA will be looking into rescheduling races and we will help them where we can but our main focus is just to deal with the aftermath of what has happened to the track.'

Hamilton has also fallen victim to the wet spell having initially passed an early morning inspection.

Further rain today caused officials to announce a second inspection at 11.30am when it was decided to call the meeting off.

A course spokesman said, 'The ground is unsafe for the jockeys and horses, so we have had to abandon it.'