As one the wettest months in history comes to an end, the weather continues to cause havoc in equestrian competitions around the UK.
Following torrential rain the British Eventing competition at Aske Hall in North Yorkshire on 30 June and 1 July has been abandoned. Also due to take place this weekend was Eland Lodge in Staffordshire, which has been cancelled due to flash floods.
Nutwell Court Horse Trials was also facing cancellation next week (3-4 July), but its organisers decided to move the event, lock stock and barrel to Bicton.
“With all this rain it was looking increasingly unlikely that we would be able to run so we thought we’d try everything we could to prevent another cancellation and Bicton Arena, which is just six miles away, very kindly stepped in,” said John Colson.
“Also, we owe it to our incredible committee who all stepped into the breach to ensure this move could take place.”
With so many BE events cancelled, the relocated event has received a record number of entries, with more than 470 horses competing over the two days.
Racing has also been suffering from the persistant rain. The fixture at Newcastle was abandoned yesterday (28 June) after four races, due to heavy rain and lightenting. This evening’s meet has also been cancelled and the couse will be inspected by clerk of the course, James Armstrong, at 3pm to decide if tomorrow's racing can go ahead.
“It's not just the ground we have to check, it's also the infrastructure, the parking – all the things you wouldn't usually have to double check,” he said. "We had 30 millimetres of rain in the space of 20 minutes and that's what really did the damage. We need to check everything thoroughly."
Advertisment(?)
