Racegoers were left with limited horse racing action on Saturday after freezing temperatures claimed the meetings at Sandown and Wincanton.
A forecast of frost and even fog had given Sandown officials cause for concern on Friday, leaving clerk of the course Andrew Cooper to announce a precautionary 7.30am inspection.
With temperatures at -2°C from midnight until inspection time and not expected to be above freezing until 11am, an early decision was able to be made with the course frozen in places. At Wincanton, an inspection was brought forward after temperatures fell to minus -4°C overnight, leaving the Somerset track unraceable.
Newcastle’s jumps card had already been abandoned on Friday, leaving a blank day of National Hunt action in Britain, while a frozen track at Cork meant no jumping in Ireland, either.
Ludlow: 12.45 Blue Moon Lady 1.15 My Mate Polly 1.45 Aviation 2.15 Planet Legend 2.50 Balkardy 3.25 Olivia Kate 3.55 Claim Du Brizais.
Ayr: 1.00 Reagrove Lord 1.30 Golden Point 2.00 Travail D’Orfevre 2.35 Raffles Wonder 3.10 Maghlaak 3.45 Kevlar.
Wolverhampton: 5.00 Classy Clarets (nb) 5.30 Jazzy Angel 6.00 Kewmill 6.30 Royal Zabeel (nap) 7.00 Havana Force 7.30 Gustav Graves 8.00 Starfighter 8.30 Desiderata.
The only two fixtures to survive the big freeze were on the all-weather tracks at Southwell and Wolverhampton, with scheduled start times of 2.47pm and 4.20pm respectively.
A spokesperson for the British Horseracing Authority said it was “regrettable” the sport had been left without Saturday afternoon fare. “The BHA has monitored the situation throughout the week, including communicating with colleagues at Sandown, Newcastle and Wincanton,” they said.
“[We] ultimately took the decision not to reschedule another meeting into the afternoon time slot. Unfortunately, the weather has gone against us on this occasion. The BHA understands the significance of ensuring that there is live racing on free-to-air television on Saturday afternoons and works hard to ensure this is the case, and will continue to do so in future.
Chepstow: 12.15 Katate Dori 12.45 Nowmelad 1.15 Clondaw General 1.45 Illico De Cotte 2.20 Jeffery’s Cross 2.55 Valens Bruyee (nb) 3.30 Maximum Offers.
Plumpton: (Abandoned).
“However, when circumstances remain challenging, and race times cannot be brought forward by rule following the declaration stage, there is always some limitation on what can be done to remedy the situation.”
Sandown’s scheduled feature race, the Unibet Veterans’ Series Handicap Chase Series Final, is the only race on the card likely to be rescheduled. Eldorado Allen and Copperhead, who both run for Joe Tizzard’s in-form stable, were fancied over the three-mile trip, while Chambard and Sam Brown also brought big-race pedigree.
This news story has replaced an earlier tipping preview piece by Greg Wood
