VERY testing conditions are in store for horses at Naas today [Saturday] and Navan on Sunday, but both meetings are expected to survive the current very wet weather.

Even the normally impenetrable Thurles Racecourse could not cope with the heavy rain on Thursday morning, forcing that meeting to be postponed to next Tuesday.

Plenty of British jumps meetings have also fallen this week and Newbury is the only National Hunt card taking place cross-channel today, following the cancellation of both Warwick and Uttoxeter due to waterlogged tracks.

Speaking on Friday evening, Naas manager Eamonn McEvoy was more than hopeful that Saturday’s fixture would survive. “At the moment we are good to race and I think we will be okay although it will be hard work for runners. The latest forecast is for rain during racing but I have found the rainfall forecasts to be unreliable recently.”

Navan manager Aidan McGarry added: “It will definitely be heavy but I’m confident there won’t be any issues. We’re expecting it to be dry during racing, which helps.”

Unfit for racing

Warwick was due to feature both the Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices’ Chase and the Listed Warwick Mares’ Hurdle, in which Cheltenham candidate You Wear It Well was set to run. However, a total of 36mm of rain fell at the track on Thursday, leaving the course unfit for action.

Thurles was cancelled at 10.30am on Thursday following heavy rain in the morning which left the track waterlogged. The meeting has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, with fresh entries required on Sunday.