Plans for an all-chase card at Sandown on Saturday look likely to be put into action with the abandonment of Friday`s meeting following an inspection today.
Prospects are described as 'extremely gloomy' for Saturday`s hurdle races which will be the subject of an inspection at 7.30am tomorrow.
Should those hurdle races, featuring the #55,000 William Hill Hurdle, be abandoned Friday`s three chases would be transferred to Saturday to form a six-race steeplechase card.
However, a forecast of up to an inch of rain at Sandown between 4am and midday is causing officials concern.
Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper said: 'We`ve completed our inspection and have decided reluctantly to abandon tomorrow`s card due to the state of the hurdle course in several places, coupled with a very poor weather forecast.
'We`re expecting some overnight rain and very heavy rain tomorrow morning _ possibly anything up to an inch of rain from around 4am until noon and possibly lingering longerthan that.
'We`ve not given up at this stage on hurdling for Saturday and we will reconvene here at 7.30 tomorrow morning and if that proves an unsuccessful inspection then we would proceed with the all-steeplechase option.
'It`s not looking good, I`d be extremely gloomy about the prospects of hurdle racing on Saturday.'
The chase course at Sandown remains perfectly raceable although Cooper would not want a deluge tomorrow.
'It would be fair to say there is only one area of the chase course that we would be keeping an eye on if we got that sort of volume of rain and that would be the area around the Pond Fence,' he said.
'It`s raceable at present but the ground is at its worst at that point.
'The key is whether we get 10mm of rain or an inch.
'If we get an inch that could affect not only there but potentially other parts.
'But we should have seen the worst part of that rain by noon tomorrow so we can gauge what its done and take it from there.'
