Check out the latest weather news and inspection updates in light of the cold snap up and down the country.
Inspections will be staged at all three tracks scheduled to stage racing on Sunday in the UK and Ireland.
Chepstow will take a precautionary look at 8am with an overnight forecast of snow, sleet, rain and wintery showers. Plumpton inspect at 8.30am with rain the worry there, up to 30mm is possible.
The fixture at Naas hinges on a 7.30am raceday inspection which was called on Friday afternoon.
Tuesday’s meeting at Leicester is already under threat with an inspection also called for Sunday morning. Officials will assess conditions at 7.45am as the track is reported to be waterlogged with rain or snow forecast on Saturday night.
Racegoers were left without any National Hunt or afternoon 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 minus 2C since midnight and still minus 2C around inspection time and not expected to be above freezing until 11am, an early decision was able to made with the course frozen in places.
At Wincanton, an inspection was brought forward after temperatures fell to minus 4.2C overnight, leaving the Somerset track frozen in places and 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.
The only two fixtures to survive the weather were on the all-weather 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 afternoon fare, adding: “The BHA has monitored the situation throughout the week, including communicating with colleagues at Sandown, Newcastle and Wincanton, and 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. 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.”
Saturday
- Cork - ABANDONED
- Newcastle - ABANDONED
- Sandown - ABANDONED
- Southwell (AW)
- Wincanton - ABANDONED
- Wolverhampton (AW)
Sunday
- Chepstow - Inspection 8.00am
- Plumpton - Inspection 8.30am
- Naas - Inspection 7.30am Sunday
Monday
- Ayr
- Ludlow
- Wolverhampton
Tuesday
- Hereford
- Leicester - Inspection 7.45am Sunday
- Wolverhampton
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
