THERE were mixed emotions for officials at Worcester Racecourse today after getting the go-ahead to start their season only to be frustrated by the weather.

Worcester was one of eight courses given the green light to resume racing yesterday by the British Horseracing Board following the lifting of foot-and-mouth restrictions, but the scheduled opening meeting of the season has been switched to Southwell.

The May 12 date was already washed out after waterlogging and the next meeting at Pitchcroft on May 23 remains in doubt after more heavy rain this weekend.

Operations manager Katherine Self said that although the lifting of foot-and-mouth restrictions was good news, the weather continues to hamper their preparations.

She said: "We were optimistic for a while last week when we had the dry weather, but on Sunday we had 40 millimetres of rain on the course. Obviously we welcome the news from the BHB and we are looking at May 23 as a starting date, but it of course depends on the weather."

Pitchcroft owners Arena Leisure do not lose money because of the switch as they also own the Southwell track. "We would have problems if we lost fixtures but at the moment we can transfer them," said Self.