This weekend's three-day Galway fixture has been pushed back to Sunday, Monday and Tuesday due to a storm warning.

A statement issued by Horse Racing Ireland [HRI] on Thursday evening said: "Due to the current ground conditions and the timing of Storm Boelo’s arrival in the Galway area on Saturday morning, HRI, in conjunction with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), have granted a request from Galway Racecourse to reschedule the National Hunt (NH) meeting due to take place on Saturday ... this NH meeting will now take place on Monday October 26th, with the Galway flat meeting originally scheduled for Monday now taking place on Tuesday.

"Galway’s rescheduled NH meeting on Monday will revert to entries at weights stage with fresh declarations to be made by 10am on Saturday, October 24th.

"Galway’s rescheduled flat meeting on Tuesday will close for declarations by 10am on Sunday."

Michael Moloney, Galway Racecourse Chief Executive said: “We're obviously disappointed that racing cannot go ahead on Saturday. Given the current ground conditions and the forecast arrival of Storm Boelo on Saturday morning, we believe rescheduling our fixtures is the most responsible course of action.

“Over the past two days, we have carried out continuous assessments of the track and closely monitored the weather forecast. Following discussions with Shane Ryder, IHRB Clerk of the Course, we jointly agreed that racing could not proceed safely on Saturday. It was a difficult decision to make, but the safety and welfare of our jockeys, horses, racegoers and staff must always come first.

“Rescheduling Saturday’s NH card to Monday and Monday’s flat card to Tuesday is necessary as our only line for flat racing at this fixture is on the innermost line and therefore the flat fixture needs to be run on the last day of this three-day meeting. The alternative was that we would only be able to facilitate two days of racing had we not moved the flat card.

“We would like to thank everyone for their understanding, patience and support as we make these changes, including our industry partners.”