Saturday, 20 January 2018: Haydock's big meeting on Saturday must pass an 8am precautionary inspection on raceday morning.

The Merseyside circuit has sustained 42 millimetres of rain from Wednesday, with 14mm having fallen on Thursday.

There is also the threat of frost, with temperatures likely to drop to minus 2C on Friday night.

The going at Haydock, due to feature four Grade Twos on the card, is currently heavy.

Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said: "We've had two inches of rain in the last week and it's not finished yet.

"Today is showery, but tomorrow is better. The main concern now is there is a frost that is more severe than forecast.

"The at-risk areas are covered, but the covers work better when they are perched up above dry-ish ground.

"It's therefore prudent to call a precautionary inspection at 8am. If we survive that, I think we should be fine."