This afternoon's (Wednesday) meeting at Brighton was abandoned after two races because of high winds.

An inspection took place before the fixture started, but jockeys insisted the meeting should go ahead.

However the fun and frolics were brought to a halt before the third race when the matting which covers various roads that cross the course began blowing around in the strong gusts.

Winds of up to 50mph were clocked across the city.

Ed Arkell, clerk of the course, told At The Races: "The mats we put down on Wilson Avenue, and to a lesser degree on the pull-ups, are being lifted by the wind.

"The problem is, not only is that dangerous, the gap between the mat means a horse could put his foot on the tarmac.

"We could not be confident a gust of wind would not lift the mat while the race was going on after we had secured them.

"Safety has to come first, if anything happened and a horse came down we can't take that risk."