Haydock ground heading towards good to soft and could improve further for Betfair Chase day

Haydock and Ascot do not expect cold weather overnight to cause any issues ahead of Saturday's big-race cards, despite freezing temperatures in some areas of Britain.

Haydock could get as low as 1C ahead of its Grade 1 Betfair Chase card according to the Met Office. The going is currently soft, good to soft in places on the chase course and good to soft, soft in places on the hurdles track.

Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said on Friday afternoon: "We'll be largely dry. We could get a slight frost overnight, but that'll be no issue – we might even have a modest improvement in the going.

"We've not raced on the ground this season and there should be no problems at all. We're in a good place."

The ground has quickened to good at Ascot ahead of its seven-race card and temperatures could drop to -1C at the track overnight.

Speaking after racing on Friday, clerk of the course Chris Stickels said: "We're on good ground now, and jockeys were saying it was like that today. We're expecting -1C overnight and then up to 6C tomorrow. When you get a frost it makes it a bit tacky ground, which I'm anticipating."

Punchestown's two-day meeting will also not be inconvenienced by frost. The going is soft to heavy on the chase course, and soft, soft to heavy in places on the hurdles and cross-country tracks.

Racecourse manager Richie Galway said: "We've had a bit of respite from the bad weather. The weekend looks quite nice, Saturday is going to be dry and there's a bit of sunshine, but it's due to cloud over before racing.

"Sunday afternoon there might be a few showers but in general it's a nice weekend. It may change, but not dramatically."

Do you want £400+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.