Punchestown meeting gets the green light

Punchestown's New Year's Eve meeting will go ahead as planned, following an early morning inspection.

The track managed to avoid any significant downpours and are set to race on heavy ground, with the first race getting underway at 12:45pm.

"Following just 1.5mm of rain overnight, Punchestown is fit for racing and today's meeting goes ahead," said clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan.

"The ground remains heavy and having spoken to Met Eireann this morning there is further rain expected later.

"At this stage, Met Eireann are saying we could get 4-5mm but there is a possibility that the showers could get heavier at times and lead to more rain than that. It is a bit unpredictable.

"However, the good news is that the track is raceable and the fixture goes ahead."

Elsewhere National Hunt meetings at Uttoxeter and Warwick have both been abandoned due to waterlogged tracks.

Uttoxeter was hit by a further 10.5mm of rain on saturated ground, leaving the course unraceable, with standing water in places.

Warwick brought forward their inspection following 20mm of rain overnight, which made it 54.5mm since last Monday and left the track waterlogged.