Racecourse fixtures moved after winter flooding

11 hours ago

Andrew DawkinsWest Midlands

Worcester Racecourse (pictured on Wednesday) said they were "very grateful" to Hereford for taking over their two fixtures

BBC Grey covers on the racecourse, in the bottom half and middle, dominate the photo. A large area of grass is behind those and trees, going from left to right, are further back on the image. — Worcester Racecourse (pictured on Wednesday) said they were "very grateful" to Hereford for taking over their two fixtures

Worcester Racecourse's first two fixtures of the year have been moved to Hereford after winter flooding.

They will take place on 5 and 12 May, with the track at Pitchcroft "needing further preparation time", the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has said.

The group added that, while repair works had finished, recent cooler overnight temperatures had "slowed down the rate of recovery".

The race programmes for the fixtures 27 miles away will remain as originally published.

Worcester Racecourse's clerk of course, Libby Dennis, said there had been areas of the track that required "further time to recover".

Parts of the course were still under water a month ago, she added.

Recent cooler overnight temperatures have "slowed down the rate of recovery", Worcester Racecourse said

A wide image of the racecourse, showing a long white rail in the foreground on the left and other rails in the background. Trees are in the distance and blue sky features in the top third of the photo. — Recent cooler overnight temperatures have "slowed down the rate of recovery", Worcester Racecourse said

"It's frustrating for the team and we understand the impact this has on all stakeholders, but ensuring the track is fully ready for racing remains our top priority," she said.

"In the meantime, we are very grateful to Hereford Racecourse for accommodating our first two fixtures, and we extend our thanks to all the team there."

A rower was spotted on a course in February

Seb Sargent/BBC A rower, pictured from the back, rowing on water, with a garage, trees and railings pictured in the background. — A rower was spotted on a course in February

General manager at Hereford Racecourse Camilla Esling said "everyone's up for it in terms of getting the racing on" and it was "keeping business as usual".

She told BBC Hereford & Worcester: "We're still watering and the news came just shortly after our last fixture.

"Nothing had been started to be sort of shut down for the summer as such, so yeah... we'll be watering to maintain the good going all round for those fixtures, so that's the key thing for us."

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