Huntingdon upbeat on prospects for Friday fixture

Major improvement after Storm Henk left track underwater.

Conditions are much improved at Huntingdon after severe flooding caused by the overflowing of the Alconbury Brook.

The track is due to host a meeting on Friday, its first since November as the Peterborough Chase fixture was lost last month, as was a further fixture last week.

The Cambridgeshire circuit was virtually underwater just days ago due to the deluge brought in by Storm Henk, but most of that water has now cleared and officials are optimistic about racing going ahead on Friday.

Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan said: “The river is down to pre-flood levels, all the drainage systems are now working and the floodwater has cleared.

“There is just a small area that often accumulates at the two-mile-four (furlong) chute, but not on the racing line.

“There’s a bit of standing water that remains, but we believe we’ve an opportunity of getting this meeting on with the forecast as it is.

“We’ve had a big team in, all the ground staff at Newmarket have given us a hand because there was a lot of debris about, but we’ve found nothing of concern.

“We were lucky that racing-critical buildings like the stable yard have all been flood-defended so that water couldn’t enter them.

“We wouldn’t want a lot of frost, but our forecast indicates that we shouldn’t get it and for that reason we’d be quite optimistic.”

Exeter abandoned Tuesday’s meeting due to frost, losing a seven-race card with temperatures dropping to minus 3C overnight.

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