‘It’s the most I’ve ever recorded in a 24-hour period’.
The event at Leicester Racecourse has been abandoned due to an extraordinary downpour of rain that left the course waterlogged. Officials had no choice but to abandon the event as 72mm of relentless rainfall was measured over the past 24 hours, which would have caused one of the wettest spells in recent times. Despite hopes that conditions might be better tomorrow, the weather forecast looked very bleak, with continued heavy rain forecast for that and into the following day.
Racing officials at Leicester have been following the situation closely since the torrential downpour caused widespread disruptions across the city, including a lengthy half-time break during Leicester City's Premier League clash with Everton because of thunder and lightning. An inspection was to be made at 3:30 pm on Sunday, and it was on that day that the decision to cancel Monday's meeting was made. The waterlogged state of the course simply left no option viable.
Leicester's Clerk of the Course Jimmy Stevenson was disappointed by the abandonment, ascribing it to an "absolute hammering.". "It's been just such a nasty one—we've already taken in 72mm in the last 24 hours, and you just can't handle that kind of rain," Stevenson said. "And not even a forecast that's getting much better. It has let up now, but it will be back on again in about two hours, and then it'll rain for possibly another 24 hours." This was the first time Stevenson had ever seen something so similar to such weather. He said no season could be recalled to have endured as much rain as Leicester had faced. "It's mad the most I have ever recorded in 24 hours. The last record I had was some five years ago, and that was at 54mm.
It's an unbelievable amount of rain in such a short time." But he said no amount of effort was going to prevent the sheer volume of water from pouring into the saturated track. "I tried to cut this and that, but it was just too much, and it's still there on top.".The persisting rain forecast for the next 24 hours, thus, increases the course's totals by 30 to 50mm, which means it cannot then be recovered into a safe racing condition. Such relentless rain is frequent in the UK but such intensity has proved unusual and challenging for the course staff. These weather conditions not only halt racing but are also causing fears about the forthcoming races, should the downpours persist.
Abandoning Leicester's Monday meeting provides further frustration for racing fans and participants who have seen different tracks across the country run into similar issues this season. Officials at Leicester had sort of hoped for a slight improvement in the forecast but eventually decided to cancel, considering the betterment of safety to the horses, jockeys, and staff. Racing continues its fight against the vagaries of weather, and the abandonment at Leicester was a reminder of how vulnerable outdoor sports are to extreme conditions. The rain has won the day, so to speak, but racing fans will look ahead with hope that there are brighter skies and better conditions around the corner.
