Cheltenham's New Year meeting is abandoned

Cheltenham racecourse has been forced to cancel its prestigious New Year's Day meeting because of a waterlogged track.

The ground was heavy and saturated in places leaving some areas of the track unraceable.

And with further rain forecast, clerk of the course Simon Claisse made an early decision.

Claisse told At The Races: "The course is waterlogged in too many places."

He added: "Sadly we've had to take the decision earlier than we thought to abandon the meeting.

"We've had more rainfall - it's still raining here now - and there's quite a lot more rain forecast."

Heavy rain also put paid to Monday's meeting at Warwick but Uttoxeter does go ahead after passing an inspection.