Today's scheduled Limerick meeting was dramatically called off last night due to waterlogging, and the current spell of bad weather is threatening to play a big role in the valuable weekend action too.

Continuous spells of heavy rain are already causing some concern about racing at Punchestown on Saturday, and conditions look set to be very testing for Sunday's prestigious Pierse Hurdle fixture at Leopardstown.

The Dublin track got a more than the anticipated 15mm of rain on Tuesday night and a further 15mm was forecast for last night. Conditions are expected to clear up slightly for the next few days, but another 15mm is predicted for Saturday night.

"At the moment the hurdles course is yielding to soft and the chase course is soft. But if we get all the forecast rain I think we could be looking at maybe soft to heavy for the hurdles track by Sunday and heavy on the chase," said Leopardstown manager Tom Burke.

The going at Punchestown is now heavy on all courses, and manager Richie Galway reported: "We're still raceable, but up to 20mm is forecast between now and Sunday. We could have a look at it in the morning to see if an inspection is required."

More immediate pressure had been on Limerick, where a six-race card featuring a €26,000 novice hurdle was due to be run off.

An inspection for 7.30 had been arranged, although hopes were not great for the meeting getting the green light. However, the meeting was called off last night after 12mm of rain had fallen since midday with more forecast to fall overnight.

"The place is completely waterlogged and it was felt there was no point even thinking about an inspection in the morning," said Turf Club spokesman Cliff Noone.