Top News

Racing fans have been left furious after the rest of today's events at Goodwood racecourse were abandoned when the ground was deemed to be too "unsafe". There were two more races scheduled to take place as part of the Glorious Goodwood event.

Six races were able to be ran, but after the rain started to fall, the action was halted. A subsequent inspection of the turf was carried out and it was declared the pull-up area was not safe enough for racing this afternoon. As a result, the 16.30 Fitzdares Offers Bespoke Bets Handicap and the Fitzdares Telephone and Text Betting Service Handicap (Class 3) (Turf) were abandoned. The result left fans and punters apoplectic, as the rain had only been falling for around 20 minutes before the turf was deemed to be unfit for racing.

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB!Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook pag

On Racing TV, the abandonment of the rest of the races was announced. The commentator said: "I'm afraid it's what we thought. It's abandoned at Goodwood, because of the pull-up area being deemed unsafe, so it's been abandoned."

Clerk of the course, Ed Arkell, when asked if the abandonment was circumstantial as a result of the sudden rain, said: "I think it was. Everybody has been very happy with the ground the last few days, nice, quick, fast, flat racing ground.

"We've had a very heavy shower on it over the last 20 minutes and it just hasn't had a chance to get in. We've had horses pulling up just past the finish line slipping.

"Two or three horses slipped in that last race. Despite the remedial we tried to carry out, unfortunately it wasn't efficient for us to carry on."

When asked if this situation would have been alleviated had the rain been earlier, Arkell added: "Yeah, I think so. We had a lot of rain very quickly. It takes time for it to get in. We've had very little rain for a long time, we've been watering a lot. And, you know, it needs a bit of time to get in, so we are where we are sadly."

However, this explanation did little to calm furious punters and race fans who were waiting for this afternoon's events. One fan sarcastically wrote: "It was a rain shower."

A second, who was particularly livid with the decision, described the situation as being "absolutely pathetic" while a third also commented: "Clerk of the course should be called into the stewards. If they faced penalties for doing this, they'd be competent in their job. Rain was forecast for a good 10 days."