Salisbury had to cancel its Thursday afternoon racecard after heavy rain throughout the morning rendered the course waterlogged.
The day’s highlight was to be the Group Three Ire-Incentive, It Pays To Buy Irish Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes. Ralph Beckett’s promising Newmarket winner Tabiti was the favourite to make a successful move into stakes company, with William Haggas’ Newbury victor Jewelry also a strong contender.
However, 18 millimetres of rain fell before a lunchtime inspection, causing standing water to accumulate in the lower areas of the undulating Wiltshire track and making the ground unraceable.
Clerk of the course Jeremy Martin explained: "We’ve had nearly 20mm of rain, with another 10-15mm expected this afternoon. It’s been a huge volume of rain. Although the majority of the track has absorbed it well, the undulations and low spots, particularly around the dip leading up to the Fibresand crossing, have begun to pond."
He added, "We raced here last Friday, and while the middle of the track was still in decent condition, areas with wear were starting to become unstable due to the rainfall. Given the conditions, there was no chance of racing this afternoon."
Martin continued, "This was meant to be our 13th meeting of the season and a key fixture for us. We’ve had a lot of racing recently, and the track can only handle so much rain. Once the heavy rain continues and starts pooling, the ground simply can't cope."
He concluded, "Yesterday evening, when I walked the course, it was in beautiful good-to-firm condition. The rain that was supposed to hit northern France instead moved north and heavily impacted us. It just kept getting worse throughout the morning."