Tuesday's meeting at Catterick was abandoned due to unsafe ground after five races.
Despite little rain in the area, light drizzle on top of good ground made conditions slippery on the bends. There was a delay after the third race as officials and riders inspected the track following Tubby Littlejohn's earlier slip in the first race.
Despite little rain in the area, light drizzle on top of good ground made conditions slippery on the bends. There was a delay after the third race as officials and riders inspected the track following Tubby Littlejohn's earlier slip in the first race.
Sand was applied to the bend with both stewards and jockeys happy to let racing continue.
However, in the fifth race, Barry McHugh's mount Actabou fell at the two-furlong marker forcing officials to inspect again. After a long deliberation by jockeys, trainers and stewards, the decision was taken to abandon racing.
Clerk of the course Fiona Needham said: "We had an inspection earlier in the day and all the jockeys were happy to ride. We had a bit more rain after that and then the incident when the horse fell in the straight. Basically it changed legs in the dip, sort of leapt in the air and slipped as he was recovering.
"In the interests of safety after that incident, we felt we had to abandon. I think it was a common sense decision as that happened on the straight whereas the first incident was on the bend which you can legislate for.
"It's unfortunate we were on quicker ground, which a lot of people want, but then it is quite lush also. To be fair to everybody, we gave it a shot but you've got to go down the common sense route in the end."
McHugh added: "The horse just slipped, both his front legs slipped and he just couldn't find a leg.
"It was perfect ground but because of the lush grass it was on the greasy side. As the problem happened in the straight as well as on the bend, it was obviously in the interests of safety that it was called off. Some of the older jockeys came up after my fall and said it wasn't safe and everybody agreed.
"It was perfect ground but because of the lush grass it was on the greasy side. As the problem happened in the straight as well as on the bend, it was obviously in the interests of safety that it was called off. Some of the older jockeys came up after my fall and said it wasn't safe and everybody agreed.
Chepstow were forced to abandon after only two races due to heavy rain.
Persistent rainfall during the morning and more after racing started meant conditions soon took a turn for the worse. The meeting started on time at 2.10 but the rain began to take its toll and parts of the course were left waterlogged.
Clerk of the course Tim Long said: "We've had heavy rain all day. We made a going change from soft to heavy but it carried on raining. Jamie Spencer and Richard Hughes were out on the track with me and they voiced a few concerns and as soon as the jockeys do that, you have to take heed."
He added: "They didn't feel it was fit to carry on. We had up to half an inch of rain before racing and I haven't been back to a rain gauge since but I'd imagine it's nearly up to three-quarters of an inch."
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