Haydock and Ascot's Saturday fixtures under serious threat as midweek jumps cards continue to fall

Saturday’s Premier racedays at Haydock and Ascot are under serious threat as the cold snap continues to cause havoc.

The Peter Marsh Handicap Chase is the highlight at Haydock, but the ground was frozen on Tuesday. The Merseyside track is under about an inch of snow and it is forecast to remain below freezing with a low of -4C on Thursday night.

“We’re backs to the wall at the moment,” said clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright. “We’re just going to have to see what happens. We’ve two very cold nights coming up but there is a bit of a thaw coming at the weekend. I suspect it’ll be too late.”

The frost has also got under the covers at Ascot, which is due to stage the clash between El Fabiolo and Jonbon in the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase on Saturday.

“We’re fully covered but the frost has got through the covers in the odd place,” said clerk of the course Chris Stickels on Tuesday. “We’re not expecting to get that cold tonight, maybe -1C or -2C, then we’ve got a couple more cold nights. Wednesday night and Thursday night look very cold and Friday night we’re not sure yet really.

“There’s still a bit of a conflicting story there as to whether it’s going to be above freezing or -2C. It looks a tricky forecast at the minute.”

He added: “Even what happens tonight is important. If we go and get a really cold night tonight and then you have another two cold nights and clearly, being frozen under the covers now, every consecutive frost you get just sits further into the ground.”

Both of Tuesday’s jumps fixtures at Chepstow and Plumpton were lost and Newbury's Wednesday meeting was abandoned on Tuesday afternoon, with areas in the back straight frozen without sufficient time for improvement given the forecast.

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