Beloved British racecourse left underwater after government alert with big race set to be switched to Cheltenham

THIS beloved British racecourse was left underwater after a government flood alert proved devastatingly accurate.

Huntingdon was forced to cancel its big Peterborough Chase card on Sunday.

The Cambridgeshire course was flooded when nearby Alconbury Brook burst its banks on Saturday night.

Incredibly, the picture above is from December 5, with conditions even worse after the torrential rainfall over the weekend.

This was the second time in three years the Peterborough has been called off.

Huntingdon has had its fair share of floods and was hit hard in 2020 when the grandstand and surrounding buildings were damaged.

These floods have not been as severe, but large areas of the racing surface were submerged and will take some time to recover.

Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan said: “You can’t beat the elements. The river levels upstream were rising and we weren’t able to keep the brook within its banks.

"The entirety of the lawns in front of the grandstand and the members car park are under water.

"The sand crossing where the horses come out on to the track and the stable bend currently have standing water all across it.

"Thankfully the water didn’t quite get into the buildings. It was a few inches short."

Racing chiefs were hopeful of rearranging the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase for Cheltenham on Saturday.

The home of jumps racing will have a blockbuster two-day meeting starting on Friday.

But the British Horseracing Authority have sadly confirmed there is no chance of rescheduling the race.

This despite Newcastle's abandoned Fighting Fifth race being successfully switched to Sandown in Surrey last weekend.

A statement read: "Having considered the original race and the upcoming race programme, the BHA has made the decision not to reschedule the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase which was also scheduled to take place at Huntingdon on Sunday."

The big race on Saturday is the Virgin Bet December Gold Cup handicap chase.

Olly Murphy saddles current 3-1 ante-post fav Thunder Rock but JP McManus could look to scoop another big pot.

He could run Fakir D'oudairies and So Scottish for trainers Joseph O'Brien and Emmet Mullins at 6-1 and 7-1 respectively.

British racing has been decimated by the heavy rain so far this winter.

Fontwell is subject to a precautionary inspection ahead of their Christmas Jumper raceday tomorrow.

And Southwell was shown drowned out in amazing pictures during Storm Babet in October.

December Gold Cup via Paddy Power

3-1 Thunder Rock
5-1 Monmiral
6-1 Il Ridoto, So Scottish
7-1 Fakir D’Oudairies, Fugitif
9-1 Frero Banbou
10-1 Easy As That
12-1 Grandeur D’Ame, Torn And Frayed
16-1 Jay Jay Reilly
20-1 Railway Hurricane
25-1 Madara
33-1 Do Your Job, Prince Escalus

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