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Doncaster off but officials hopeful for Saturday and Kameko Futurity Trophy

Aidan O'Brien has Diego Velazquez (L) and Battle Cry entered into Saturday's big race
Aidan O'Brien has Diego Velazquez (L) and Battle Cry entered into Saturday's big race

Friday's fixture at Doncaster has been called off following a morning inspection.

A total of 2.3 millimetres of overnight rain on Town Moor has left some areas of already heavy ground saturated, forcing the cancellation of the seven-race card.

The track is due to stage the Kameko Futurity Trophy – the final Group One of the British season – on Saturday and clerk of the course Paul Barker is optimistic on the chances of that meeting going ahead.

He said: "Unfortunately we have had overnight rain which has caused the abandonment of today’s card.

"We are just looking at some rail movements to cover the affected areas and once we have done that, if the forecast is right, we would be pretty confident about tomorrow."

An inspection will be held at 3.30pm to assess conditions once the rails have been moved.

Saturday's meeting at Newbury has been called off due to a waterlogged track.

The card was set to feature two Group Threes, the BetVictor Horris Hill Stakes and the BetVictor St Simon Stakes, as well as the Listed Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Stakes.

With Friday’s fixture cancelled on Thursday, an inspection was called for 2pm on Friday ahead of Saturday’s meeting but clerk of the course George Hill was able to make an early call after a further four millimetres of rain.

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