TAUNTON’s first race meeting of the season – scheduled to be staged tomorrow (Nov 10) – has been abandoned.

A lack of rain means the going is currently described as firm, hard in places and the decision to call off the meeting was taken last week.

Ironically, meetings at this time of year are normally under the threat of rain.

A statement posted on the racecoure’s website last week read: “Unfortunately racing on Thursday, November 10, has been abandoned due to the very dry spell experienced in the Taunton area since the beginning of July.

“The ground is currently Firm, Hard in Places. July and August were especially dry months offering only 398.5mm of rain against an average of 170 mm. In addition, since September 1, the course has taken only 88.5mm of rain against an average of 100mm.

“This means we are approximately down 120mm of rain against the norm over the period. Our reservoir holds enough water to apply 50mm over an eight-day period with the weather forecast showing little if any rain over the next week. Our 50mm simply isn’t enough to change the ground sufficiently.

“This is why the decision to abandon has been taken today (Nov 2).