Horse racing meetings off over weather concerns

Four of Britain's five scheduled horse racing meetings on Wednesday have been abandoned following a forecast of extreme heat in parts of the UK.

The Met Office has issued a rare red warning from 09:00 BST on Wednesday to 21:00 Thursday for parts of England and Wales, with temperatures possibly reaching 38 or 39C.

The British Horseracing Authority's hot weather policy states that where racecourses fall within a red warning zone, the fixture will be abandoned.

In addition, horses must not be transported from or through areas that have red warnings in place.

Worcester's National Hunt fixture and the Flat meetings at Salisbury and Kempton are all in the affected zone and while Ffos Las, which was also due to host a jumps card, is just outside, it would require participants to travel through the high-risk area to reach the course.

Carlisle's meeting in Cumbria is still scheduled to take place, featuring the historic Carlisle Bell and Cumberland Plate.

The BHA says it will continue to liaise with racecourses hosting fixtures in amber warning zones this week to consider any further procedures that may be needed.

Trainer Alex Hales, who had been due to have two runners at Worcester, supported the decision to call off the meetings, insisting horse welfare comes first.

"We just have to be sensible. We try to work the horses earlier and get the main bits of work done before the sun really comes up and, with travelling, the lorries have fans in them now to keep the temperatures down," he said.

"But if the temperatures are getting as high as predicted, keeping the horses hydrated with plenty of electrolytes as well is very important.

"We are constantly monitoring the horses and if they are showing signs of getting too hot we would pull them out and get them under the hose pipe and cool them off that way.

"But I think the BHA have been very sensible and the whole industry is sensible with it."