Water Damage Forces Southwell Racecourse To Close For Remainder Of Year

Southwell racecourse is "to be closed for the rest of the year owing to flood damage," according to James Richardson of the London DAILY STAR. The course, "currently under seven to nine inches of water," had already lost the additional meeting scheduled for Wednesday, which has been transferred to Wolverhampton. It will also lose the jumps meeting scheduled for Tuesday and "eight all-weather Flat meetings due to be held at the track later in December." Course Clerk Roderick Duncan said, “We had just short of 50 millimeters of rain on Saturday and going into Sunday, and we’ve had a further 10 or more since. We have ongoing talks with the Environment Agency and Trent Valley Drainage Board to improve this situation in the future.” The track reported that the drying out and repair process is "already in progress with the hope that water levels subside and racing can resume in January" (DAILY STAR, 11/28).