Musselburgh Racecourse has confirmed that its next race meeting, due to take place on Tuesday 21 July, has been abandoned.
The East Lothian course said a technical fault in its irrigation system has reduced the amount of water available to water the track. With hot weather forecast in the coming days, organisers said they could not guarantee the ground would meet the safety standards required for racing.
The meeting, the Superhero Family Raceday, was due to include a range of family attractions alongside the racing card. These have also been cancelled as a result.
Anyone who bought tickets for the event will be contacted within 48 hours with details of how to claim a full refund.
Musselburgh Racecourse director, Bill Farnsworth, said: “We hugely regret that due to a technical fault, our irrigation system is unable to water the racecourse to safe levels.
“Horse welfare is paramount and therefore racing on Tuesday 21 July will not go ahead. This includes all additional funfair rides and activities.
“We are experiencing prolonged dry conditions, which normally would not be a problem and we would be applying about 15mm of water per day on the course, but due to this technical issue it means we are only able to put on 3-4mm of water a day.
“The ground is currently good to firm, firm in places, but it is getting dryer and firmer day by day and by Tuesday the ground will be too firm for the horses to safely race on and that is reason we abandoned the race day.
“We are incredibly sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience this will cause, and we sincerely appreciate your understanding – everyone on our team is truly devastated.
“We had a fantastic day planned for all our racegoers and have explored every possible alternative to save all or part of the day, but unfortunately none of the options were viable.
“The technical issue will be fixed at the beginning of next week, and we will be good for racing on our next scheduled meeting on Friday 31 July.”
