Tag Archive for: Weather

Haydock hoping Saturday card can beat the freeze

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Officials at Haydock have not yet given up hope Saturday’s high-profile fixture will beat the cold snap, with the track deemed raceable on Friday ahead of a planned precautionary inspection at 8am on raceday.

Ascot’s Clarence House Chase card was called off on Thursday and Haydock’s meeting looked to be heading the same way after snow fell on frozen ground on Wednesday night.

Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright admitted things were “not looking as good as they were” and announced an inspection for noon on Friday.

However, with the snow having cleared, Tellwright was in a more optimistic mood on Friday morning, and therefore cancelled Friday’s inspection and instead called a precautionary check for Saturday.

The Merseyside venue is due to stage four Grade Two events, including The New One Unibet Hurdle and Peter Marsh Chase.

Tellwright said: “We’ve had a good night and we’re in a better place than we expected to be, but in the context of the forecast we’ve put a precautionary in for tomorrow morning.

“The snow on the track has gone and we’re fit to race this morning, so it entirely hinges on the scale of any frost tonight.

“We’re forecast temperatures of between just below zero and minus 2C, which is the difference between success and failure.”

Taunton will inspect at 4pm on Friday
Taunton has been abandoned (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

If Haydock does get the green light, it will be the sole jumps meeting in Britain on Saturday after Taunton’s fixture was abandoned on Friday afternoon.

A precautionary check was initially called for 8am on raceday, but deteriorating conditions prompted a change of plans and the inspection was brought forward to 4pm on Friday.

However, with the course still unraceable and no prospect of sufficient improvement, the fixture was called off shortly after 3pm.

Sunday’s meeting at Fakenham has also been called off due to a frozen track following a 2pm inspection on Friday. Officials were due to check the course on Saturday but brought forward that look as conditions were not improving.

Energumene against Edwardstone at Ascot lost to the weather

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A mouthwatering clash between Queen Mother Champion Chase hero Energumene and Arkle victor Edwardstone will not take place this weekend after Saturday’s meeting at Ascot was abandoned due to a frozen track.

The two-mile chasing juggernauts were due to lock horns in the Grade One LK Bennett Clarence House Chase, but the Berkshire track has been unraceable since Tuesday morning.

Clerk of the course Chris Stickels announced an inspection for 4pm on Thursday to assess the prospects of racing and ultimately had no option but to call off proceedings.

He said: “There was not sufficient improvement, the track remains unraceable and given the forecast and where we are right now, there’s no chance of us being raceable for Saturday.”

Energumene winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase
Energumene winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase (David Davies/PA)

Whether the Clarence House Chase is rescheduled remains to be seen – but Patrick Mullins, assistant to his father Willie, confirmed the intention for Energumene to travel over if the race is switched to a different venue.

“If it is lost we hope it is rescheduled and the plan would still be to go over. It fits in well with his programme,” he told Sky Sports Racing.

“He’s in great form, he worked well at the Curragh on Tuesday, he worked well this morning and we’re fit and ready to rock.”

Saturday’s other high-profile fixture at Haydock is also in doubt.

Haydock was hit by snow overnight
Haydock was hit by snow overnight (Nigel French/PA)

The Merseyside venue is due to stage four Grade Two events, including The New One Unibet Hurdle and Peter Marsh Chase, but snow overnight prompted clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright to call a noon inspection on Friday to assess whether racing can go ahead.

He said: “We have had half an inch of snow overnight with a frost, so things are not looking as good as they were.

“We have called an inspection for noon tomorrow and we would need to see the snow gone by then if we are to persevere.

“It depends on which forecast you look at – on the most optimistic it’s just about feasible, but on the most pessimistic we will be beaten.”

Jumps action is also scheduled at Taunton on Saturday, with officials calling an 8am precautionary inspection on raceday.

There will be no turf racing in Britain on Friday – a fourth successive blank day – as Market Rasen called off their card following a noon inspection on Thursday.

The meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday and will have the bumper due to feature the exciting Queens Gamble carried forward. A further Ffos Las fixture has also been added to the calendar for January 23.

Ascot call Thursday inspection ahead of Clarence House card

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Saturday’s high-profile fixtures at Ascot and Haydock will have to pass inspections if they are to go ahead.

Ascot’s card features the Grade One LK Bennett Clarence House Chase, but the Berkshire track has been unraceable since Tuesday morning and clerk of the course Chris Stickels will hold a 4pm inspection on Thursday to assess the prospects of racing.

He said: “We are currently unraceable, the track is frozen in places. It is even frozen in places under the frost covers.

“We were not raceable at all yesterday, despite temperatures getting up to 5C during the day.

“It got down to -1.75C last night and we want to see if there is any improvement today.”

Haydock was hit by snow overnight
Haydock was hit by snow overnight (Nigel French/PA)

Haydock is due to stage four Grade Two events, including The New One Unibet Hurdle and Peter Marsh Chase.

However, the Merseyside venue was hit by snow overnight, prompting clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright to call a noon inspection on Friday to assess whether racing can go ahead.

He said: “We have had half an inch of snow overnight with a frost, so things are not looking as good as they were.

“We have called an inspection for noon tomorrow and we would need to see the snow gone by then if we are to persevere.

“It depends on which forecast you look at – on the most optimistic it’s just about feasible, but on the most pessimistic we will be beaten.”

Jumps action is also scheduled at Taunton on Saturday, with officials calling an 8am precautionary inspection on raceday.

The course is currently raceable, but frost is forecast.

There will be no turf racing in Britain on Friday – a fourth successive blank day – as Market Rasen called off their card following a noon inspection on Thursday.

Another blank day in prospect for National Hunt racing

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There will be no jumps racing in Britain or Ireland on Thursday after frost accounted for cards at Wincanton and Fairyhouse.

Tuesday was a wipeout on the National Hunt scene in Britain with Chepstow called off, while Wednesday cards at Plumpton and Newbury were also called off.

Thursday’s potential jumps cards were cut to just Wincanton, with Newcastle cancelled on Tuesday and Ludlow abandoned following an inspection on Wednesday morning.

Market Rasen's Friday card is subject to an inspection
Market Rasen’s Friday card is subject to an inspection (Mike Egerton/PA)

Officials at Wincanton had planned to inspect on raceday morning but with track reported to be still frozen on Wednesday afternoon, they made an early decision to cancel the fixture.

Market Rasen provides the next potential turf meeting on Friday, with Lingfield already called off.

The meeting is due to feature the Listed Alan Swinbank mares’ bumper, but the Lincolnshire venue must pass a noon inspection on Thursday if it is to go ahead, with the ground frozen in places.

Queens Gamble is declared to run at Market Rasen
Queens Gamble is declared to run at Market Rasen (David Davies/Jockey Club?

Clerk of the course Jack Pryor said: “We have called an inspection for tomorrow and we will have to make an assessment of conditions then.

“We are going to need the weather to help us out a bit.

“We got up to 4.5C today, but we are aware we have another two nights of frost to come.”

Fairyhouse will now race next week (
Fairyhouse will now race next week (Donall Farmer/PA)

Thursday’s fixture at Fairyhouse was called off following a 3pm inspection, although the card has already been rescheduled for next Wednesday.

Brendan Sheridan, IHRB clerk of the course said: “Following an inspection at Fairyhouse today, parts of the track remain unfit for racing.

“We have spoken with Met Eireann and with an unfavourable weather forecast again for tonight, we have no choice but to cancel tomorrow’s meeting.

“Having consulted with Horse Racing Ireland and with a rise in temperatures towards the weekend, this fixture will now take place on Wednesday, January 25.”

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.

Waterlogging claims Leicester’s Wednesday card

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Leicester have abandoned their meeting on Wednesday due to waterlogging and areas of false ground.

A pre-Christmas cold snap saw plenty of racing cancelled last month, but now it appears to be the persistent wet weather which is causing tracks problems as the jumps season heads into the second half of the campaign.

The East Midlands venue was set to host a six-race card with the feature race the Listed Kube – Leicester’s Premier Events Venue Mares’ Chase over two miles.

But with heavy rain forecast for Tuesday and parts of the track already waterlogged, an inspection was called for 3pm on Sunday, with the decision made to abandon 72 hours in advance of the fixture.

Clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson said: “We were heavy ground in the middle of last week and have been heavy ground since we raced on December 28.

“Obviously we couldn’t take much more rain and we’ve had 18 millimetres in the last three days, which has got into the ground and created waterlogging and some false ground.

“The forecast is not much better unfortunately and there’s a fair bit of rain to come yet, so we’ve been left with no choice really.”

Bangor-On-Dee racecourse will inspect on Monday ahead of their meeting on Thursday
Bangor-On-Dee racecourse will inspect on Monday ahead of their meeting on Thursday (Simon Marper/PA)

The situation looks just as bleak at Bangor ahead of their meeting on Thursday with both the hurdles and chase track currently unraceable.

There are areas of standing water which, due to height of river, are unable to drain and with further rain forecast throughout the week, an inspection has been called for 10am on Monday.