No jumps racing on Thursday with Wincanton and Fairyhouse latest to cancel

Wincanton has cancelled its Thursday fixture due to frost, meaning there will be a third consecutive day in Britain without jumps racing.

The course had initially planned to inspect on raceday at 8am, but that was brought forward and the meeting was subsequently called off.

Ludlow's fixture on Thursday has also been cancelled following an inspection on Wednesday morning, with the course frozen in places.

Temperatures were set to rise to around 6C on Wednesday afternoon but that was not enough for clerk of the course Simon Sherwood to give the green light for a further inspection.

"Our problem was the -4C forecast tonight with freezing temperatures until about 11am tomorrow – that would have totally scuppered us," said Sherwood.

"We had to think of the bigger picture with regards to cancelling and those involved. I feel sorry for the trainers, as they're not getting a consistent chance with their horses."

An icy scene at Chris Gordon's yard on Wednesday morningCredit: Edward Whitaker

Newcastle fell foul of the elements on Tuesday afternoon, with hard frost not easing upon inspection, and there will be no jump racing in Ireland on Thursday either after Fairyhouse cancelled its fixture due to frozen ground. The meeting has been rescheduled for next Wednesday.

Friday's feature meeting at Market Rasen, where the Listed Alan Swinbank mares' bumper is the highlight, will have to pass a midday inspection on Thursday. The ground currently is frozen in places.

Plumpton cancelled but Wolverhampton gets green light

Plumpton cancelled its six-race card on Wednesday due to frost but racing at Wolverhampton went ahead after the track passed a second inspection at 11.30am.

Officials at the all-weather track had initially inspected the track at 9.30am after three-quarters of an inch of snow fell overnight, but that has now cleared and the six-race card go ahead, albeit with revised race times due to Plumpton's cancellation.

Wolverhampton new race times

Race 1: 1.50 (was 1.40)
Race 2: 2.20 (was 2.10)
Race 3: 2.55 (was 2.40)
Race 4: 3.25 (was 3.15)
Race 5: 4.00 (was 3.50)
Race 6: 4.30 (was 4.25)

A section of the course at Plumpton was frozen on Tuesday afternoon but it did not thaw in time for racing. The decision not to race came following an 8.30am inspection.

Clerk of the course Marcus Waters said: “We felt there wasn’t quite enough time for significant improvement, it was just getting a bit tight with temperatures not rising until 12.

“It’s frustrating and it was proper touch and go, but we had to be fair to the participants and let them know earlier rather than later."

Big weekend fixtures in jeopardy

The forecast in the lead-up to the weekend "presents challenges" for Ascot's Clarence House Chase card on Saturday, according to clerk of the course Chris Stickels.

Continued frosts could scupper the Grade 1 bill and valuable meetings elsewhere this week, with temperatures dropping to -6C at the track on Tuesday morning and 16mm of rain falling on Monday, leaving the course frozen in places.

The going at Ascot was described on Wednesday as soft, good to soft in places on the chase course and good to soft, soft in places on the hurdle course, with overnight temperatures into Wednesday dropping to -1C.

It is forecast to remain cold with sub-zero temperatures at night through to Saturday and daytime temperatures peaking at 4C.

Stickels said on Tuesday morning: "We are frozen in places after -6C overnight and the forecast is for cold temperatures to continue, with sub-zero temperatures at night, although probably not as cold as last night. We can still expect -3C or possibly -4C at times.

"The forecast has changed. Originally it had looked to be getting milder by the weekend but now it indicates colder temperatures on Saturday morning, which presents challenges."

The Champion Hurdle Trial and Peter Marsh Chase are due to be run at Haydock on Saturday, and clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said: "I'd say we're around even-money to race.

"All the at-risk areas are covered but a worn track freezes much more readily than fresh ground. We are forecast to get frosts on Wednesday and Thursday nights and to stay around zero on Friday."

The going is described as soft, frozen in places for Taunton's Portman Cup meeting on Saturday, although temperatures are set to rise as the week goes on.

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