Storms Austen and Boelo: The Racing Weekend Lost to the Weather

Newbury's problem was rain, and a lot of it. Clerk of the course George Hill told Thoroughbred Daily News the course had taken more than 50mm in about four days, 13mm of it overnight on Thursday. An inspection on Thursday 22 October found parts of the track waterlogged, and Friday's six-race card was called off that day.

Saturday was meant to be the big day: eight races, with the St Simon Stakes over a mile and a half and the Horris Hill Stakes over seven furlongs, both Group 3s, and the Listed Radley Stakes for two-year-old fillies. The course said sections of the track were still waterlogged and there was not enough time for things to improve, so Saturday went too.

The BHA moved quickly. On Friday it announced that both Group 3s would be run at Newmarket's Rowley Mile instead:

• St Simon Stakes: Friday 30 October.
• Horris Hill Stakes: Saturday 31 October. It is now open to fillies as well as colts and geldings, because the Radley Stakes, a fillies' race over the same trip, could not be saved.

The Jockey Club agreed to add the two races to its Rowley Mile cards, and the Horserace Betting Levy Board contributed to the prize funds for both races. Newbury's next fixture is its first jumps meeting of the autumn, on Thursday 5 November. The Newbury racecourse guide has the course and its fixtures.

Aintree's Sunday card was the Halloween Family Fun Day, seven races with the William Hill Old Roan Chase, a Grade 2 limited handicap, as its feature, and Storm Boelo's winds put paid to it.

The card was called off more than an hour and a half before a scheduled 8am inspection. Clerk of the course Sulekha Varma told the Racing Post she had recorded a gust of 44.97mph, with an average of about 40mph, and the wings and rails could not be kept standing. Aintree's statement said "the safety of our participants, visitors and teams is our number one priority". Sporting Life reported that strong winds were expected until at least early afternoon.

Is the Old Roan being rescheduled? Not yet. Varma said the team would look to have conversations about rescheduling soon. When we checked on Monday 26 October, neither Aintree nor the BHA had announced a new date or venue, and we will not guess one. We will update this page when there is news.

Tickets. General admission ticket holders are being refunded, and hospitality bookers are being contacted, according to Sporting Life.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Market Rasen passed an early inspection, and all seven races were run on Good to Soft, Soft in places. The Aintree racecourse guide has more on the course.

Galway saw Storm Boelo coming. On Thursday 22 October the course announced there would be no racing on Saturday, with the ground already poor and Met Éireann yellow rain and wind warnings in place for Saturday. Chief executive Michael Moloney said the decision was taken with IHRB clerk of the course Shane Ryder, and that "the safety and welfare of our jockeys, horses, racegoers and staff must always come first".

Rather than lose the card, Galway moved it. The October festival now runs Sunday to Tuesday: jumps on Sunday, the rescheduled Saturday jumps card today (Monday 26 October, the Student Raceday), and the Flat card on Tuesday 27 October, moved back a day from Monday. Saturday's general admission tickets are being refunded automatically.

On Sunday both Irish meetings passed morning inspections. Galway raced on soft to heavy on the chase course, soft on the hurdles course and heavy on the Flat track, and Wexford on soft, according to Irish Racing. The Galway racecourse guide covers the track.

We keep a copy of every racecard our feed sends us through the day, so we can count what was lost. These figures come from those cards for Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October. "Runners" means horses still on the card when it was called off, so a few would have been non-runners anyway. "First prizes" is the winner's prize in each race, not the full prize fund, which is larger.

Newbury's Saturday card was the richest of the three. The St Simon Stakes alone carried a first prize of £56,710, the Horris Hill £42,532 and the Radley £25,520. At Aintree the Old Roan Chase was worth £45,560 to the winner, with 13 runners. The biggest single field lost was the Hazell & Jefferies Handicap at Newbury on Saturday, with 20 runners.

Galway's Saturday card, seven races with 103 runners and €70,800 in first prizes, does not count as lost: it is being run today instead.

The cards also show how different the ground was depending on where you were. Doncaster raced the Futurity Trophy on Saturday on Heavy, Soft in places, and Newbury's abandoned Saturday card had been listed as Soft, Heavy in places. Kelso, on the same day, raced on Good. A card's going can lag behind the official going on the day, so treat these as a snapshot.

An abandoned race leaves a horse fit and ready with nowhere to go. For the two Newbury Group 3s there is now a second chance at Newmarket, though nobody has said yet which of Saturday's declared runners will take it. Fresh entries and declarations are needed, and the decision sits with each horse's connections. Follow any of the horses below in your Horse Tracker and you will see when it is next declared.

St Simon Stakes, nine declared at Newbury: Al AasyAdd Al Aasy to the Horse Tracker, Aegean PrinceAdd Aegean Prince to the Horse Tracker, Al QareemAdd Al Qareem to the Horse Tracker, By The BookAdd By The Book to the Horse Tracker, Grey CubanAdd Grey Cuban to the Horse Tracker, Royal PlaywrightAdd Royal Playwright to the Horse Tracker, White BirchAdd White Birch to the Horse Tracker, EvanescoAdd Evanesco to the Horse Tracker and Rebel RockerAdd Rebel Rocker to the Horse Tracker. Charlie Appleby had two of them, Aegean Prince and By The Book.

Horris Hill Stakes, nine declared at Newbury: Flying PirateAdd Flying Pirate to the Horse Tracker, Ghost RaiderAdd Ghost Raider to the Horse Tracker, Golden SoukAdd Golden Souk to the Horse Tracker, Green SovereignAdd Green Sovereign to the Horse Tracker, JassasAdd Jassas to the Horse Tracker, Mezzo ForteAdd Mezzo Forte to the Horse Tracker, Midgham ManAdd Midgham Man to the Horse Tracker, Nakila SunAdd Nakila Sun to the Horse Tracker and Twelve BarsAdd Twelve Bars to the Horse Tracker.

Radley Stakes, ten declared: this race is gone for the year. Its fillies, among them DiplomataAdd Diplomata to the Horse Tracker, Spirited GestureAdd Spirited Gesture to the Horse Tracker and Sizzling AffairAdd Sizzling Affair to the Horse Tracker, could now run in the Horris Hill at Newmarket, which is open to them for the first time.

Old Roan Chase, 13 declared at Aintree: MatataAdd Matata to the Horse Tracker, Master ChewyAdd Master Chewy to the Horse Tracker, HitmanAdd Hitman to the Horse Tracker, WendigoAdd Wendigo to the Horse Tracker, RiskinthegroundAdd Riskintheground to the Horse Tracker, Teddy BlueAdd Teddy Blue to the Horse Tracker, MatterhornAdd Matterhorn to the Horse Tracker, BoombawnAdd Boombawn to the Horse Tracker, Imperial SaintAdd Imperial Saint to the Horse Tracker, Prairie WolfAdd Prairie Wolf to the Horse Tracker, EtalonAdd Etalon to the Horse Tracker, BlueyAdd Bluey to the Horse Tracker and InsurrectionAdd Insurrection to the Horse Tracker. Dan Skelton had four of the 13. Until there is a new date for the race, any talk of where these horses go next is guesswork, and we have left it out.

If you had a bet on any race at Newbury on Friday or Saturday, or at Aintree on Sunday, the general rule is simple. Under standard bookmaker rules, a bet on a race that is abandoned is void and your stake is returned. If the bet was part of a multiple, check how your bookmaker settles the other legs.

Moved races are less simple. The St Simon and the Horris Hill will be run, but at a different course on a different day, and the Horris Hill has changed its conditions to let fillies in. How a bookmaker treats an ante-post bet struck on the Newbury race, and whether it stands for the Newmarket one, is set by that bookmaker's own rules. Read your operator's racing rules or ask its customer service before assuming either way. Our guide to ante-post betting explains how bets placed before declarations are settled.

Galway's Saturday card is a slightly different case again, because it was moved before racing was due to start. Check how your bookmaker has settled any bet you placed on it. For this week's weather, including Tuesday's wind warning and the ground for the Charlie Hall Chase, see our week-ahead weather and going guide.

Checked on Monday 26 October 2026 against:

• Met Office: warnings in place as Storm Boelo to impact UK (updated 24 October)
• Newbury Racecourse: racing abandoned and Newbury Today
• Thoroughbred Daily News: waterlogging forces Newbury to call off Saturday
• BHA: St Simon Stakes and Horris Hill Stakes rescheduled
• Racing Post: Aintree's Old Roan Chase called off and Sporting Life: Aintree abandoned due to high winds
• Galway Races: racing rescheduled, the Tuam Herald and Irish Racing

The race counts, runners, first prizes and card going descriptions come from our own copy of the racecard feed for 22 to 25 October, and the declared fields in the horses section come from the same cards. They are our records rather than a second independent source. Every result from the meetings that did go ahead is on the racing results page.