BANK Holiday Monday racing at Chepstow had to be abandoned after two races due to safety concerns over the surface of the track.

The decision followed an inspection involving stewards, jockeys and trainers, after jockeys raised concerns over false patches of ground on the bend into the home straight.

The racecourse’s consultants carried out an inspection of the area on Tuesday morning in a bid to determine what caused the problem.

“It’s one of our feature meetings of the year and we’d been working towards it for months so it was a massive disappointment,” said Marketing Manager Bex King.

“Obviously the safety of the horses and jockeys is paramount and racing couldn’t continue with patches of unstable ground - but we were all gutted.

“It might be something to do with the prolonged spell of dry weather followed by heavy rain but so far we’ve heard nothing official.

“It’s been a really bad year as our Easter family day had to be called off due to bad weather and leaks in the grandstand caused by the ‘Beast from the East’ meant our premier bar was out of action for several months too.

“We had several thousand people here on Monday for what had been billed as a family day - and we kept the children’s entertainment and live music going after the racing was abandoned.

“As a gesture of goodwill we’re refunding 50 per cent of the cost, including for hospitality, and have invited people back free of charge to any one of five future meetings, on the flat and over jumps,” she said.