Down Royal meeting in jeopardy after heavy rainfall

The Down Royal track is currently unfit for racing with a further inspection tomorrow morning to determine whether the upcoming two-day meeting can go ahead.

The Lisburn track has seen 66mm of rainfall since Sunday, with clerk of the course Tracey O'Meara saying they need a dry day on Thursday if the course is to recover in time.

"There was a further 25mm of rain overnight at Down Royal and the track is unfit for racing at the moment due to significant amounts of water lying in some areas," O'Meara said.

"The total rainfall at the racecourse since Sunday has been 66mm.

"When I spoke with Met Éireann this morning they suggested that bulk of rain was behind us now but there is still some showers around for today.

"The worst case scenario according to Met Éireann is that we could get another 15mm throughout the day but that is the worst case scenario.

"We have a more favourable forecast from tomorrow but we'll need it. The groundstaff will here have already began work on the track in the areas where water is lying and we will give a further update on the situation on Thursday morning at 8am."

The two-day November meet is due to commence on Friday, with the bumper race, the Ladbrokes Champion Chase set to run on Saturday.

A strong field is promised, with Gordon Elliot's Gerri Colombe in contention, and former Gold Cup winner Minella Indo also a possible runner.

Watch the Festival of Racing from Down Royal on Saturday from 1.15pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player