Warwick's Classic Chase card cancelled and Kempton could be under threat as freezing temperatures continue to disrupt

Saturday's racing fare has been decimated for the second weekend running as Warwick became the second Graded card to be lost when its Classic Chase meeting was cancelled on Thursday morning.

The Premier fixture, which was due to stage the Grade 2 TrustATrader Hampton Novices' Chase as well as the rearranged Veterans' Chase Series Final, will not go ahead with the track frozen and unraceable. The temperature is set to drop to -4C on Thursday and Friday night so there is no chance of improvement before raceday.

Sub-zero temperatures, which forced Sandown and Wincanton to cancel meetings last weekend, have already claimed Wetherby's Grade 2 card on Saturday after an inspection took place on Wednesday afternoon. Additional fixtures have been added over jumps at Ffos Las and on the all-weather at Chelmsford.

The going at Kempton, Saturday's sole surviving initially scheduled jumps fixture in Britain which is due to host the Silviniaco Conti Chase and Lanzarote Hurdle, is soft, heavy in places. Whether an inspection will be necessary has not been confirmed, but the forecast is variable with sub-zero temperatures likely over the next two nights.

• BHA announces additional Saturday fixtures at Ffos Las and Chelmsford 

Warwick clerk of the course Nessie Chanter said: "We're obviously extremely disappointed. We had lows of -4C last night and the fresh ground is okay. There's still areas on the home straight where water is lying and that's frozen. Where there's areas of fill on the chase track, that has frozen but all the fresh ground is fine.

"The temperatures aren't coming high enough during the day to lift the frost out of the ground and we've got two more nights of sub-zero temperatures going to -4C so there's very little chance of significant improvement."

It will be the first time since 2010 that the Classic Chase, worth £100,000, will not be staged. Chanter added: "We could have gone nearer to the line but the outcome is still going to be the same, so we decided to give everybody as much notice as possible so they can make alternative arrangements. We're devastated to lose such a high-profile meeting."

Kempton's Lanzarote Hurdle card could be at risk due to the plummeting temperaturesCredit: Edward Whitaker

All tracks at Fairyhouse, where Paddy Power Gold Cup third Lets Go Champ is entered in a Grade 3 on Saturday, are unfit for racing due to frost. However, no inspection has been called as temperatures are set to rise from the early hours of Friday and a further update will be provided at 3pm that afternoon.

Kelso will inspect at 8am on Friday for Sunday's card though, with the majority of the track frozen and sub-zero temperatures expected over the next two nights. Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: “We got down to about -6C last night and it’s still below freezing at the moment.

“The course is now frozen all round really and we’ve got another three nights of frost, with temperatures of -3C to possibly below that. All the daytime temperatures for Thursday, Friday and Saturday are not really to get above 0C for much more than an hour or two each day. It’s stacking the odds against us."

Armstrong, who also clerks at Hexham and Cartmel, added of the recent cold snap: “What’s annoying is Sunday itself is up to about 7C and Monday will be up to about 11C, so we might just miss out by a day or two. We’ll have a decision before declarations tomorrow morning.”

There are no issues anticipated for the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle card at Punchestown in Ireland on the same day.

There will be no jump racing on Thursday after Newbury's meeting was abandoned on Wednesday due to a frozen track. Catterick and Clonmel were the other Thursday meetings to be called off, but there are all-weather cards at Lingfield in the afternoon and Chelmsford in the evening.

There will be no jump racing on Friday either, as fixtures at Huntingdon and Doncaster were both cancelled on Wednesday morning. The areas of the home straight that had been flooded at Huntingdon had frozen on Tuesday night, with no chance of improvement before raceday. Doncaster's track is also frozen, with temperatures set to dip to as cold as -5C on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Lingfield's all-weather card on Friday must also pass a 7.30am inspection, with forecast temperatures set to drop below freezing overnight.

• Supreme favourite Salvator Mundi set for weekend reappearance as Irish tracks expect to beat weather

Weather prospects at a glance

Thursday
Lingfield Going standard to slow
Chelmsford Going standard to slow
Catterick ABANDONED
Newbury ABANDONED
Clonmel ABANDONED

Friday
Lingfield Going standard to slow INSPECTION 7.30AM FRIDAY
Newcastle Going standard to slow
Dundalk Going standard to slow
Doncaster ABANDONED
Huntingdon ABANDONED

Saturday
Chelmsford Going standard to slow
Ffos Las Going soft
Kempton Going soft, heavy in places
Newcastle Going standard
Warwick ABANDONED
Wolverhampton Going standard
Fairyhouse Unfit for racing with parts of the track frozen (further update at 3pm on Friday)
Wetherby ABANDONED

Sunday
Punchestown Unfit for racing with parts of the track frozen
Lingfield Going standard to slow
Kelso Going soft, frozen in places INSPECTION 8AM FRIDAY

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