Tramore's rearranged New Year's Day fixture, was called off again yesterday because of storms, and prospects for tomorrow's Thurles meeting look bleak.

Thurles will hold an inspection at 9.00 a.m. this morning, but the track is under snow at present and, unless conditions improve signifi- cantly, the chances of the fixture being held are considered 50-50 at best.

The chase course has already been declared unraceable and, if the meeting goes ahead, one of the hurdle races will be divided to make a six-race card. Today's meeting at Folkestone became the latest victim of the storms currently lashing southern Britain when the fixture was aban- doned yesterday. It is the sixth meeting to be lost in the past eight days.

After walking the assistant clerk of the course Fergus Cameron said: "We're off. "The situation is that we had a quarter of an inch of rain between 10.30 and 11.30 this morning. Parts of the straight are waterlogged.

"The forecast is for more rain this afternoon and this evening and with no prospect of drying condi- tions we had no option but to call the meeting off."

Today's sole surviving meeting is an all-weather Flat fixture at Southwell.

Prospects are not good at Lud- low, due to stage Britains's only turf card tomorrow, with the going reported as soft, heavy in places with some surface water on the course. The clerk of the course said: "It all depends on the weather overnight."