Monday’s Stratford meeting is a wash-out

Heavy rainfall has resulted in Stratford’s six-race card on Monday being cancelled because of a waterlogged track. A week of wet weather was added to by a 19mm downpour on Saturday evening to leave low-lying areas of the home straight and the viaduct bend at the Warwickshire venue under water. The meeting, which was due to feature two Class 3 contests, was set to be the track’s last in 2019 with a full refund available to those who had already purchased tickets. Stratford’s clerk of the course Robert Bellamy said on Sunday: “It was perfectly raceable on Friday with the ground description soft, heavy in places. The forecast for Saturday said we were due 8mm but we had 19mm throughout the whole day and evening, which has left us with quite a lot of surface water on the track. “The River Avon doesn’t peak until midday so any drainage that might help the situation is all backed up due to the river levels. There is further rain for this evening too, but we’re already waterlogged.” “It’s heartbreaking for everyone here and sad to lose our last meeting of the year, but we just couldn’t cope with the 19mm of rain,” added Bellamy.