Latest news of inspections and abandonments as the current cold snaps takes hold.
Kempton have called a Thursday inspection for 14:00 ahead of their scheduled big Saturday meeting with the track still frozen.
Clerk of the course Barney Clifford said on Wednesday morning: “I’m just walking it now and we’re still frozen I’m afraid. We had ten millimetres of rain overnight and temperatures didn’t get below two degrees but didn’t’ get much higher than four yesterday evening.
“I need a big improvement today and tomorrow with rainfall and temperatures getting above five degrees to try and take this out.”
The card at Wetherby was abandoned following a 15:30 inspection with the surface frozen and no change of a significant improvement before Saturday.
Officials at Warwick are on snow watch after a warmer night meant a slight thaw has started ahead of their meeting which is due to feature the William Hill Half A Mill Classic Handicap Chase.
Speaking on Wednesday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast, clerk of the course Nessie Chanter said: “I’m feeling much punchier today. We were due sub-zero temperatures overnight and the lowest we got was plus 1.4 degrees. We never got into the red and were in the black all night so I feel we’ve bought ourselves 24 hours.
“The thaw has definitely begun, you can tell by the number of pipes that have burst, and it’s come out of the top but is obviously still in below. We’re due an awful lot of moisture Thursday night through to Friday, up to 30 millimetres of rain which we are praying for.
“But there is just a chance that with this low pressure front coming from France, it depends where the two fronts meet and it could turn into snow.
“That would not be positive for us so we’re hoping and praying it’s going to be a lot of rain, but fingers crossed we can sneak over the line.”
Friday’s rearranged meeting at Naas, which is due to feature the Grade One Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, remains under threat too.
Clerk of the Course Brendan Sheridan said: “Things have improved but parts of the track are still unraceable. Where it’s raceable the ground on the chase course is yielding to soft; the hurdles (course) it’s yielding, yielding to soft in places.
“The forecast is for temperatures of three to four degrees through today and tomorrow and staying above freezing tonight with the possibility of between five and millimetres of rain between now and racing.
“There is a chance it might get down to minus one tomorrow night and that’s where we are. Things have improved here, and we’ll monitor the situation and going forward will have further updates.”
Exeter and Huntingdon have both called inspections for their Friday meetings.
The former will assess conditions at 16:00 on Thursday with the track frozen in places. However temperatures have risen since Tuesday and are expected to remain above zero with heavy rain forecast from from mid-morning on Thursday.
Huntingdon will look again at 09:00 on Thursday after the track failed an initial check on Wednesday morning. The course remains frozen in places and while temperatures may rise, snow and rain are in the forecast.
Wetherby is also frozen in “vast areas of the track” and will look at 15:30 on Wednesday to see if forecast daytime temperatures of plus four have had any effect on the situation.
Jump racing does look set to resume on Thursday with no issues reported at this stage at either Taunton or Ffos Las.
Inspection latest
Thursday:
Catterick – OFF
Chelmsford (All-weather)
Ffos Las
Taunton
Clonmel
Friday:
Exeter – Inspection 16:00 Thursday
Huntingdon – Inspection 09:00 Thursday
Southwell (All-weather)
Wolverhampton (All-weather)
Newcastle
Naas
Saturday:
Kempton – Inspection 14:00 Thursday
Warwick
Wetherby – OFF
Lingfield
Newcastle
Fairyhouse
Sunday:
Kelso
Fontwell
Punchestown
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