Tag Archive for: Newbury

Filey Bay out to bag Betfair Hurdle riches

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Filey Bay bids to plunder another major prize for Emmet Mullins in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury.

A nephew and neighbour of Ireland’s perennial champion trainer Willie, Mullins is no stranger to big-race success, most notably saddling Noble Yeats to win the Grand National at Aintree last spring.

The County Carlow handler also won the Greatwood Hurdle, the Morebattle Hurdle and the Festival Plate and in Filey Bay he has unearthed another fast-improving gelding.

The son of Fame And Glory is two from two since joining Mullins from Declan Wall’s yard, with a runaway success at Doncaster on his stable debut in late November followed by the cosiest of one-length wins at Wincanton just five days later.

Emmet Mullins is already living up to his family name
Emmet Mullins is already living up to his family name (Brian Lawless/PA)

Filey Bay must contend with a rise in both the weights and class for Saturday’s £155,000 feature – but sporting the colours of leading owner JP McManus for the first time, it would be no surprise to see him take his game to another level.

“Fingers crossed, he will hopefully be up for the challenge,” said Mullins.

“It’s a big step up in class for him, but he’s come through his first two tests well and hopefully he can keep progressing.

“Since Wincanton this has been the plan and it is a big step up in class. But it’s also a big pot and he deserves to take his chance.”

Filey Bay is one of three runners in the race for McManus, with the Willie Mullins-trained Icare Allen and Nicky Henderson’s No Ordinary Joe also among the leading fancies.

Icare Allen on his way to winning at Fairyhouse
Icare Allen on his way to winning at Fairyhouse (Brian Lawless/PA)

Icare Allen finished fourth in last year’s Triumph Hurdle and ran with credit when third on his seasonal reappearance at Fairyhouse, while No Ordinary Joe won a head-bobber at Kempton over Christmas.

McManus’ racing manager, Frank Berry, said: “It’s hard to split them. I wouldn’t want to have to make the decision about which one to ride, I know that.

“They are all going there in good form and while it’s a competitive race, all their trainers have said they are in good form, so hopefully they’ll be competitive.”

Of No Ordinary Joe, Henderson told Unibet: “He’s very good indeed. He won last time and this has always been the plan.

“We thought he was a smart horse last year, but everything went wrong from the beginning. He had all sorts of silly problems. This time we’ve had a good, clean run and he comes in here in really good shape.

“It’s very difficult getting a handle on these Irish horses and No Ordinary Joe is pretty exposed, but he could be improving.”

Chris Gordon is excited to be firing a twin assault at one of the most prestigious handicap hurdles of the season, with Aucunrisque and Highway One O Two both expected to acquit themselves well.

Aucunrisque reverts to the smaller obstacles after finishing second in the Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase on his latest appearance and given he is 7lb lower over hurdles, Gordon is hoping for a bold showing.

Aucunrisque is one of two runners for Chris Gordon
Aucunrisque is one of two runners for Chris Gordon (David Davies/PA)

He said: “He’s in really good order, really good form with himself. I got him back over a hurdle the other day and he was very sharp and straight back into the swing of it.

“What’s interesting when you look at his profile is ever since I ran him in his very first bumper, he has improved a little bit on the back of each run. It’s wonderful when you have a horse that just keeps on improving and hopefully it will be a really good day if we can improve just a little bit more.”

Highway One O Two proved too strong for the reopposing Hacker Des Places in a competitive handicap at Ascot in October before placing a distant third behind the brilliant Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.

“I can’t understand why Hacker Des Places is such a short price and we keep drifting out, but he hacked up that day and won it very nicely,” Gordon added.

“People are maybe looking and seeing that he was only third to Constitution Hill, but I was really pleased with that run. When you look at Epatante, she was six lengths in front of us and if you look at the video, Jamie (Moore) wouldn’t have hit our horse once behind the saddle. He looked after him and I thought that run was a lifetime best.

“Off his mark we’ve got to have a lifetime best again to win the Betfair, but I’m really happy with him. I ride Highway every day and he seems in such tremendous form.

“I’m really looking forward to running both of them and it’s just lovely to have such horses in such good races.”

Hacker Des Places is now a non-runner leaving Paul Nicholls with just Rubaud running, who makes his handicap debut after two Taunton wins and a second place at Kempton so far this term.

“Rubaud, is a novice rated 130 and I think that’s quite a nice mark for him. He was second to Rare Edition at Kempton over Christmas but I felt the ground was too soft for him,” said Nicholls.

“Obviously by then we didn’t have too much choice. We’ve waited for this race for the better ground, novices have a good record in the race, so I’m hoping he’s going to be competitive.”

Betfair Hurdle day at Newbury is one Nicholls looks forward to

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Champion trainer Paul Nicholls is readying a strong squad for one of his favourite meetings of the season at Newbury on Saturday.

Two solid chances in the feature Betfair Hurdle with Hacker Des Places and Rubaud, Hitman looking to get back on track in the race named after former Ditcheat star Denman and McFabulous aiming to emulate Bravemansgame in the opening race, there is plenty to go at.

But it is Greaneteen in the Betfair Exchange Game Spirit Chase Nicholls will be watching with most interest, given how the Queen Mother Champion Chase picture has changed in recent weeks.

The defeats of Energumene, Edwardstone and Blue Lord have opened up the race and Nicholls hopes his three-time Grade One winner can re-enter the picture.

“He ran very well in the Champion Chase two years ago when I don’t think he was anywhere near as good a horse as he is now and he wasn’t beaten too far,” said Nicholls.

Greaneteen won the Haldon Gold Cup earlier in the season
Greaneteen won the Haldon Gold Cup earlier in the season (David Davies/PA)

“The last couple of weeks the (Champion Chase) waters have been muddied a little bit, which often happens at this time of year, but we’ve always thought this was the perfect race to run him before Cheltenham.

“He loves good ground and I’ve left him a little short rather than have him fully wound up like I did for the Haldon Gold Cup, which was possibly why he was a little bit flat in the Tingle Creek this year.

“We’ve left plenty to work on, he’s nice and fresh so hopefully he’ll run very well en route to Cheltenham.”

In the Betfair Hurdle Nicholls saddles the second- and third-favourites behind Emmet Mullins’ Filey Bay.

“Hacker Des Places keeps on going up a little bit and has a 5lb penalty so we could have done without that – he did surprise me by winning the other day so he could well be improving. Angus (Cheleda) does take the 5lb off,” he said.

“Angus gets on very well with him. He won at Aintree on him and the other day at Cheltenham and rides him most days at home so that 5lb is handy. He probably learned the last day not to be in front too soon.

“Rubaud has only got a mark of 130 and I actually think that’s OK compared to some of my other novices.

“It’s a competitive race, but there’s no Champion Hurdle horse in it like there can be some years so it’s a good competitive handicap.

“You always hope your novices are decent, he’d only had one poor run last year but he came from France and hadn’t acclimatised. I did always like him and I didn’t want to run again after Kempton and risk getting a penalty, praying it was going to be good ground. We’re hoping we’ve got a live chance.”

McFabulous may not go on to emulate King George winner Bravemansgame – who won this race 12 months ago – but he is already rated highly.

Nicholls said: “He’s got to run off a mark of 153 which is quite tough, but there are only two others declared. One is getting a stone off him and the other a stone and a half so that evens it up a bit.

“He loves good ground, won very nicely in a Grade Two earlier in the season and while he might have plenty of weight I’m sure he’ll take a bit of beating.”

Nicholls also runs two nice types in Fire Flyer and Meatloaf in the closing Betfair-sponsored bumper, but says nothing should be read into jockey bookings.

“In the bumper, which is always a nice race – we ran Al Ferof in it before he was second to Cue Card at Cheltenham – we have Fire Flyer who won nicely at Ascot, we like him a lot, and Meatloaf who won at Wincanton and was just touched off at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day,” said Nicholls.

“Jockey-wise Lorcan (Williams) won on Fire Flyer and Harry (Cobden) has ridden Meatloaf so I made the decisions. I wouldn’t know which is better than the other.”

For once there appears to be little doubt whether a big weekend meeting will take place, with clerk of the course Keith Ottesen and his team covering the track from the frost earlier in the week.

Ottesen said: “We’re in a good place and will be fine for Saturday. It dropped to minus 2C overnight, but by 7am there was no frost. It’s going to be slow, good ground and it’s very different to what it was in November when we were having to water it a little bit to get it to good.

“It doesn’t look as though we’re going to freeze overnight on Friday so we’ll probably take the covers off on Friday.”

Filey Bay heads 23 in Betfair reckoning

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Filey Bay is 11-4 favourite with the sponsors for the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday after 23 horses remained in contention at the five-day confirmation stage.

Trained by Emmet Mullins, the seven-year-old was having his first outing in 409 days when an easy winner at Doncaster in November off a lowly mark and had no trouble in following up a week later at Wincanton.

Subsequently bought by JP McManus, he will be attempting to become the first Irish-trained winner of the race since Michael O’Brien’s Essex in 2005.

McManus holds a strong hand with the Willie Mullins-trained Icare Allen, Jonjo O’Neill’s Petit Tonnerre and Nicky Henderson’s Ordinary Joe.

Henderson could also be represented by the top weight First Street and Impulsive One, while there is further Irish interest in the shape of Lorna Fowler’s Colonel Mustard.

Paul Nicholls has two left in, Hacker Des Places and Rubaud, as has Gary Moore with Teddy Blue and Yorksea for a race he has won three times in the past.

Last year’s winner Glory And Fortune, Harry Fry’s Gin Coco and the Chris Gordon pair of Highway One O Two and Aucunrisque also feature.

Joe Tizzard’s Eldorado Allen is the highest rated among nine in the Betfair Denman Chase having finished second in the Charlie Hall and Betfair Chase this season.

Hitman, Sam Brown, Does He Know and Corach Rambler are potential opponents, as it the Sam Thomas-trained Iwilldoit, winner of the Classic Chase on his first outing of the season.

Amy Murphy has entered Kalashnikov in the Denman over three miles and a Warwick handicap on the same day.

Jonbon is among eight entries in the Game Spirit Chase, although Warwick’s Kingmaker Novices’ Chase on the same afternoon is his preference.

Nicholls’ Greaneteen is likely to be a hot favourite on his favoured good ground.

Jonbon all set for weekend action, with Warwick still preferred option

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Warwick’s Virgin Bet Kingmaker Novices’ Chase remains the first preference for Jonbon at the weekend, but Nicky Henderson could yet also give his star novice a Newbury entry.

The seven-year-old is unbeaten in two starts over fences so far, accounting for Monmiral by seven lengths on his chasing debut at Warwick before coasting to Grade One glory in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown in December.

Jonbon is the ante-post favourite for next month’s Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival, and while Henderson still favours sticking to novice company for his prep he has mentioned Newbury’s Game Spirit Chase in dispatches.

Jonbon made his chasing bow at Warwick
Jonbon made his chasing bow at Warwick (David Davies/PA)

He said: “I might put him in the Game Spirit at Newbury, but at the moment the plan remains to go to Warwick. That has been the plan all along. Everything has been great since Sandown and he is in super form.

“He schooled on Thursday and he has been great. Aidan (Coleman) will come and give him another pop over fences this week, but he is having a good time.

“He just wants one more run before Cheltenham and this fits perfectly. He was silky smooth at Sandown the last day. He jumped, he galloped and he showed he has gears.”

The Willie Mullins-trained El Fabiolo staked his own Arkle claims with victory in the Irish version at Leopardstown on Saturday and given there was only a neck between the pair when they clashed in last season’s Top Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree, Henderson is anticipating another titanic tussle next month.

Jonbon edged out El Fabiolo at Aintree
Jonbon edged out El Fabiolo at Aintree (Nigel French/PA)

Henderson said: “That was a good race in Ireland (Irish Arkle) and El Fabiolo was only a neck behind Jonbon at Aintree last season.

“That is good form in Ireland and the danger to Jonbon in the Arkle was always going to come out of that race and it certainly has. El Fabiolo has beaten three good horses there in Banbridge, Appreciate It, and Dysart Dynamo.

“We just want Jonbon to have a nice time at Warwick to put himself right for Cheltenham.

“There is a little bit of room for this race to come and put him where we want him for Cheltenham.”

Fowler lining up Betfair Hurdle bid for Colonel Mustard

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Lorna Fowler’s Colonel Mustard is in line for a switch back to smaller obstacles as Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle beckons.

The chestnut was a high-quality novice hurdler who was placed in a string of classy contests – including finishing second to Jonbon at Ascot and third to State Man in the County Hurdle in March – before graduating to fences this season.

Fourth on debut and then second behind El Fabiolo at Fairyhouse, the eight-year-old ran two good races in competitive company when taking to the task well.

A return to hurdles awaits, however, with Colonel Mustard now aiming for the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on February 11, where he will be ridden by conditional jockey Kieren Buckley.

“The plan is to go to the Betfair Hurdle, at the moment everything is going to plan and hopefully he realises it needs to keep going to plan,” said County Meath-based Fowler, whose charge is a general 14-1 chance.

“He’s in great form, we’re going to try to jump him over some of those white hurdles so he sees white paint. We are all guns blazing, along with everybody else!

“I’d like Kieren Buckley to ride him, by chance he ended up doing a lot of the schooling of him over fences and a lot of work with him early doors this season.

“He will claim 3lb in the UK, but the biggest factor really is him knowing the horse. He rode him in his last race because Darragh (O’Keeffe) got injured, that was in his chase at Fairyhouse.

“He’s done most of the working and schooling with him all season and I’m a great one for them knowing the horses.”

Colonel Mustard’s chasing career is not over and future outings over fences are still probable, with Fowler expecting the switch between the two types of obstacles to suit the sharp-minded gelding.

“To me he’s an incredibly bright horse, he’s not the sort of horse that’s going to get confused,” she said.

“He’s very accurate and given he’s a smart, intelligent horse, I don’t think it will be a problem for him. I think he enjoys it, he enjoys the chopping and changing and I think, having brought him back and schooled him over hurdles recently, that he gets a kick out of it.

“Fences are a big option going forward but I think we’ll probably look at having a couple of hurdle runs. He’ll have lots of different options after the Betfair Hurdle, but right now we’ll worry about that race and then see what comes after.”

Filey Bay tops Betfair Hurdle market with Gaelic Warrior scratched

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Filey Bay is the new 3-1 favourite for the Betfair Hurdle with the sponsors  after Gaelic Warrior was taken out of the Newbury showpiece at the latest confirmation stage.

Bought by JP McManus having won at Doncaster and Wincanton so far this season, the seven-year-old was promoted to favouritism in the absence of the Willie Mullins-trained Gaelic Warrior.

Filey Bay is trained by Mullins’ nephew, Emmet, already a Grand National-winning trainer through Noble Yeats and he will be looking to add another notable race to his CV on February 11.

Emmet Mullins is no stranger to big-race glory
Emmet Mullins is no stranger to big-race glory (Brian Lawless/PA)

“The plan is to run him. He had a tough week with two runs in five days, but he looks good at the moment and I’m very happy with him,” said Emmet Mullins.

“He’s versatile ground wise and I would not be worried about the going.”

In Gaelic Warrior’s absence Willie Mullins could rely on Icare Allen, also owned by McManus.

The leading owner could be well represented as Jonjo O’Neill’s Petit Tonnerre and Nicky Henderson’s No Ordinary Joe could also carry his famous green and gold colours.

Paul Nicholls has won the race twice before with Zarkandar in 2012 and Pic D’Orhy in 2020 and looks like being well represented too.

He said: “Iceo could run. If the ground is good, I could run Rubaud and Hacker Des Places, who may have a race at the weekend, could also make it to Newbury.

“Timeforatune is another possibility at this stage. It’s a bit early to say which will run but I will definitely have a couple of runners.”

Harry Fry’s Gin Coco and last year’s winner Glory And Fortune are others among the 42 left in.

Day one of Lingfield’s Winter Million meeting lost to cold snap

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Day one of Lingfield’s Winter Million weekend on Friday has been abandoned.

With temperatures reaching below minus 6C at the course on Monday night through Tuesday morning, an early bulletin had stressed the track needed fortune to be on their side for the first of their three-day meeting to go ahead – and following a 4.45pm inspection racing was abandoned due to a hard frost with limited improvement and the further poor forecast.

Friday’s card was set to feature the £110,000 Sovereign Handicap Hurdle and the £50,000 Class 2 Godstone Chase – a handicap run over two miles and the British Horseracing Authority and Lingfield have acted quickly to add these two races to Sunday’s fixture.

The final day of the meeting, which also hosts the weekend’s flagship Fleur De Lys Chase, will now be a nine-race card and officials are cautiously optimistic rising temperatures over the weekend will allow both Saturday’s all-weather card and Sunday’s action on the turf to go ahead.

“We’re heavily frozen in places today and the reality is we got to 1C today for about four hours and we’ll have another hard frost tonight and the next couple of nights,” said George Hill, clerk of the course for Lingfield.

“The forecast basically has no chance of improving before Friday so we felt as a team in conjunction with the BHA that the best course of action would be to save the best two races from Friday and put them on Sunday to make that a nine-race card.

“We’ll obviously need improvement in the forecast, but at least there is scope for the forecast to improve on Saturday into Sunday, where we kind of know what the forecast is for the next 48 to 72 hours – we’re fairly confident what that forecast is.”

He continued: “It gives us the best chance of saving as many races in the current situation we are faced with and the latest challenge of the weather.

“If we can manage to get Sunday on and Saturday’s all-weather Flat card as well, which will be a good day, then at least it will be a decent nine-race card with a hell of a lot of prize-money up for grabs. It’s not really what we wanted but it’s the best of the bad situation we are in.”

Meanwhile officials at Ascot have admitted the change in forecast “may present some challenges” in being able to stage Saturday’s card – which is headlined by the LK Bennett Clarence House Chase.

Temperatures dropped as low as minus 6C on Monday night through to Tuesday morning and clerk of the course Chris Stickles has indicated a changing forecast suggests the cold weather may now extend into the weekend.

He said: “The going remains soft, good to soft in places on the chase track and good to soft, soft in places on the hurdles course. We’re obviously frozen on both courses in places this morning following minus 6C overnight and temperatures are still below freezing now.

“The forecast now indicates that this cold spell could last into the weekend, so it has changed since yesterday. So that may present some challenges.

“Temperatures aren’t due to get much above 4C on any given day and we’re still below freezing at the moment. Its not likely to get as cold as it did last night again currently, but although it’s not forecast to get as cold as it did last night it does look like sub-zero temperatures each night.

“We’ll continue to monitor and update accordingly.”

Haydock are also “50-50” to stage their Saturday fixture where the use of frost covers may not be enough to save the Peter Marsh Chase card.

Ground staff out on the track in the fog and frost to prepare the track before a previous meeting at Haydock Park
Ground staff out on the track in the fog and frost to prepare the track before a previous meeting at Haydock Park (John Giles/PA)

“I would say we are 50-50 realistically,” said clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright. “We were minus 3C last night and we’ve got several more nights to get through.

“Frost covers are down but they will have their work cut out on the worn ground. There is no sign of any sun today for instance. It’s just above zero but we’ve got fog pretty much slowing down any thawing activity out there.

“We’ll just have to play it as it comes. We would very much like to race and will do everything we can.”

Freezing temperatures have already took their toll on the week’s racing programme with Chepstow on Tuesday and Newbury on Wednesday abandoned due to frost.

Newcastle have taken the decision to abandon for Thursday following an inspection late on Tuesday afternoon due to a hard frost and a minimal opportunity in the forecast for conditions to improve.

Plumpton will stage a second inspection at 8.30am ahead of their meeting on Wednesday.

Frost covers are down but it reached minus 6C on Monday night. However, Tuesday evening was not set to be as cold with -2C forecast and officials are hopeful of racing.

Officials at Ludlow have announced a precautionary inspection for 9am on Wednesday ahead of the track’s scheduled Thursday fixture, while Wincanton inspect at 8am on Thursday ahead of their Somerset National card later that day.

Forecast leaves ‘challenges’ ahead for Ascot’s weekend fixture

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Officials at Ascot have admitted the change in forecast “may present some challenges” in being able to stage Saturday’s card – which is headlined by the LK Bennett Clarence House Chase.

The two-mile Grade One is due to feature Willie Mullins’ Champion Chase hero Energumene against Alan King’s Arkle winner Edwardstone.

However temperatures dropped as low as minus 6C on Monday night through to Tuesday morning and clerk of the course Chris Stickles has indicated a changing forecast suggests the cold weather may now extend into the weekend.

He said: “The going remains soft, good to soft in places on the chase track and good to soft, soft in places on the hurdles course. We’re obviously frozen on both courses in places this morning following minus 6C overnight and temperatures are still below freezing now.

“The forecast now indicates that this cold spell could last into the weekend, so it has changed since yesterday. So that may present some challenges.

“Temperatures aren’t due to get much above 4C on any given day and we’re still below freezing at the moment. Its not likely to get as cold as it did last night again currently, but although it’s not forecast to get as cold as it did last night it does look like sub-zero temperatures each night.

“We’ll continue to monitor and update accordingly.”

Haydock are also “50-50” to stage their Saturday fixture where the use of frost covers may not be enough to save the Peter Marsh Chase card.

Ground staff out on the track in the fog and frost to prepare the track before a previous meeting at Haydock Park
Ground staff out on the track in the fog and frost to prepare the track before a previous meeting at Haydock Park (John Giles/PA)

“I would say we are 50-50 realistically,” said clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright. “We were minus 3C last night and we’ve got several more nights to get through.

“Frost covers are down but they will have their work cut out on the worn ground. There is no sign of any sun today for instance. It’s just above zero but we’ve got fog pretty much slowing down any thawing activity out there.

“We’ll just have to play it as it comes. We would very much like to race and will do everything we can.”

Freezing temperatures have already took their toll on the week’s racing programme with Chepstow on Tuesday and Newbury on Wednesday abandoned due to frost.

Newcastle have taken the decision to abandon for Thursday following an inspection late on Tuesday afternoon due to a hard frost and a minimal opportunity in the forecast for conditions to improve.

Plumpton will stage a second inspection at 8.30am ahead of their meeting on Wednesday.

Frost covers are down but it reached minus 6C on Monday night. However, Tuesday evening was not set to be as cold with -2C forecast and officials are hopeful of racing.

Officials at Ludlow have announced a precautionary inspection for 9am on Wednesday ahead of the track’s scheduled Thursday fixture.

Wincanton inspect at 8am on Thursday ahead of their Somerset National card later that day, while Lingfield’s Winter Million meeting on Friday also looks in some doubt.

The entire track was covered on Monday but it is frozen under the covers after a minus 6.7C last night.

The going report states: “Highs of +1/+3C today. Cold spell continues with averaging -2/-5C overnight and day time highs of between +3/+5C. Will need some good luck from what the latest forecast states.”

Cold spell beginning to hit racing hard

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Freezing temperatures are beginning to take a toll on the racing programme with Chepstow on Tuesday and Newbury on Wednesday abandoned due to frost.

With temperatures falling dramatically across the country for the second big cold snap of the winter, Chepstow and Newbury were added to Fontwell on Monday as meetings lost this week.

Chepstow were due to inspect at 7.30am but the decision to abandon was taken before then after it reached -6C overnight at the Monmouthshire venue.

Conditions at Newbury were already testing after over 60 millimetres of rain in the past week.

However, it was frost that put the nail in the coffin, with a -4C on Monday night and another hard frost forecast for Tuesday, with -5C possible.

Clonmel’s meeting in Ireland on Tuesday did survive an inspection, though.

Plumpton will inspect at 2pm on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.

Frost covers are down but it reached -6C on Monday with temperatures not getting above freezing until 10am with a possible high of 3C.

Tuesday evening is not set to be as cold with -2C forecast.

The going report read: “Temperatures dropped much lower than forecasted overnight. With frozen areas will inspect at 2pm hoping to see improvement, with the feeling if the frozen areas come out today we would have a good chance with temperatures not forecasted to drop as low tonight.”

Lingfield’s Winter Million meeting on Friday looks in some doubt, however.

The entire track was covered on Monday but it is frozen under the covers after a -6.7C last night.

The going report states: “Highs of +1/+3C today. Cold spell continues with averaging -2/-5C overnight and day time highs of between +3/+5C. Will need some good luck from what the latest forecast states.”

Ascot’s Clarence House Chase card on Saturday is being protected by frost sheets on the take offs and landings and the shaded area in the home straight.

While temperatures are due to be below freezing every night this week, daytime temperatures of of 4C offer encouragement.

Haydock reports that temperatures in the Merseyside area are due to rise towards the end of the week, although there is a risk of snow on Wednesday.

Frost covers deployed as Lingfield bids to beat the freeze

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Lingfield are applying frost covers ahead of the Winter Million meeting which is set to kick off on Friday.

The track is due to host the three-day fixture from Friday to Sunday, with the first and last days National Hunt cards and the Saturday a Flat card run on the all-weather.

Heavy rain has caused water to pool in certain areas of the course, but the upcoming minus overnight temperatures mean frost covers are in use to prevent the ground from freezing.

George Hill, Lingfield’s clerk of the course, said: “It will be freezing from tonight, we’re covering the entire track today. There’ll be four nights of -3C to -4C and daytime temperatures of 2C and 3C.

“Once it stays above freezing we’ll lift the covers, the ground is heavy and there’s standing water in places.

Lingfield Park Racecourse
Lingfield Park racecourse (Adam Davy/PA)

“If we don’t cover with three or four nights of -4C, then the frost will get in the ground. Covering any bits of standing water isn’t ideal, but we’ve no more rain forecast and that should stand us a better chance.

“We’ll need improvement with standing water and four nights of minus temperatures, the water needs to go somewhere but at the same time you don’t want the frost getting into the ground.

“The weather has been so unusual, you don’t normally have 70 millimetres of rain in a week and then go through four freezing nights ahead of a three-day fixture.”

At Chepstow conditions are currently soft, heavy in places, ahead of their National Hunt meeting on Tuesday.

Frost covers have been deployed over the track already as minus temperatures are expected overnight, and a precautionary inspection is due for 7.30am on Tuesday.

Newbury racecourse
Newbury racecourse (David Davies/PA)

Newbury’s Wednesday meeting will also be subject to a Tuesday inspection as staff are due to take a look at the track at 8.30am.

The going is currently heavy with waterlogged areas and temperatures as low as -5C are expected over Monday and Tuesday night.

Plumpton also race on Wednesday and the track is in a similar situation, with heavy ground covered by frost sheets ahead of the sub-zero temperatures likely over the next few nights.

Given the cold forecast, the British Horseracing Authority has added an extra all-weather meeting at Wolverhampton on Thursday, with entries closing on Tuesday and declarations on Wednesday.