Is Navan off ?

looks like

Be astonished if it goes ahead

called off.

No need for an inspection, beleive me

punch in danger high winds


just posted this on koi thread




STORMY weather in Ireland has forced Navan to abandon Saturday’s meeting and Punchestown to arrange an inspection for the John Durkan Memorial Chase meeting on Sunday.

Navan hastily arranged a 9.30am inspection on Saturday morning with the threat of gale force winds, but at 9am the fixture was scrapped due to “a deterioration in weather conditions”.

The surface had been described as raceable, with the ground heavy following 20mm of rain overnight.

Navan clerk of the course Paddy Graffin said: "The wings of some of the fences and some of the rails were in danger of blowing down.

"When we checked with the Met Office this morning and were told that the winds would not only continue but would increase in force through the day, the decision was taken to cancel the meeting in the interests of safety."

Punchestown confident

Punchestown will hold an 8am inspection on Sunday with rain not wind causing concern, but officials are confident of getting the all clear.

The track’s racing manager Richie Galway said on Saturday morning: "Our ground is heavy and we've had a lot of rain in recent days. The track has taken the rain quite well and we are raceable.

"We had 13 millimetres of rain overnight following 30 millimetres in the previous 24 hours and there is the possibility of between 10 and 20 millimetres overnight. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry and we've had no problems with the wind.

"We'll assess the situation in the morning but at this stage I'd be quite confident that we will race."

High winds are also going to be a factor at the five fixtures in Britain on Saturday. Aintree is monitoring the situation with 20mph winds this morning and possible gusts of over 40mph forecast, while Wetherby has reported 25mph winds.