RACING organisers refused to let flood water at Pitchcroft dampen their spirits by racing giant inflatable ducks instead of horses.

Onlookers cheered as charity volunteers pulled the ducks along with string before one called Splash' finally bobbed its way to a £500 prize for the Malvern Hills branch of the Riding for the Disabled Association.

The event was the brainchild of Jamie Watson, PR manager for Betfred, who saw pictures of the flooded racecourse in the Racing Post and discovered the racing meeting had been cancelled.

He said: "The racecourse has lost a lot of revenue and we wanted to help."

The winning duck was pulled across the finishing post by RDA volunteer Clare Cartwright ahead of runner-up Mr Quackers' who was representing St Richard's Hospice. She said: "It kept bouncing off the fence but we won £500 which is great. We were going to do a bucket collection at the races but it was cancelled.

"It's quite important for us so they (organisers) said come along anyway. The money will enable us to benefit the children in their riding."

Representatives from the Worcestershire Association for the Blind, the Hall Green Retired Greyhound Trust and Cystic Fibrosis also waded onto the racecourse and received £100 from Betfred.

Worcester racecourse's hospitality manager Jenny Cheshire said: "Everybody has been in wonderful spirits and it's lovely to be able to salvage some fun and benefit for the charities."

However, she added: "When we lose a meeting it's bad, but to lose three, it's very hard to recover from something like that. The clean-up will be horrendous." She believes this is the first time summer meetings have been cancelled because of the Severn bursting its banks.

Childminder Jenny Done, who brought youngsters Scarlet Woods, four, and Tilly Woods, two, to watch the race said: "A few days ago we walked past and Scarlet was asking about the horses and we jokingly said it's not horses it's ducks and swans - and here we are!"

Despite the remaining water on the racecourse, staff at the Environment Agency confirmed the river Severn in Worcestershire was downgraded to the status all-clear yesterday, which means more flooding is not expected.

The river Avon in Worcestershire remains on flood watch which means low lying land and roads could be affected.

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