Exeter facing 'uphill battle' for Sunday card but officials hopeful at Warwick

Exeter's clerk of the course Daniel Cooper says the track is facing a "significant uphill battle" ahead of an 8.30am inspection to assess the conditions for Sunday's scheduled meeting.

Some patches of ground at Exeter have been frozen solid for the best part of a week, with temperatures dipping below freezing for five nights in a row.

Cooper said: "There's an inspection tomorrow morning where we'd like to see improvement in the condition of the soil as we're still frozen in certain areas of course.

Sunday's racecards

"We got down to near -2C last night and that's the fifth straight day of temperatures dropping below freezing so there's been a ground frost all week here. We're facing a significant uphill battle.

"The forecast tomorrow is positive, with rising temperatures expected. We'll have to wait and see whether that comes in time."

Officials at Punchestown are monitoring conditions ahead of Sunday's meeting with wind posing a threat to the fixture.

A yellow weather warning has been by Met Eireann for raceday, which is due to feature the Grade B Punchestown Grand National Trial (4.30).

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board tweeted: "Due to a Status Yellow wind warning between 6am and 4pm on Sunday which has been issued by Met Eireann, the situation will be continually monitored ahead of racing at Punchestown."

Warwick hopeful but inspection called

Warwick will hold a 3pm inspection on Sunday ahead of its seven-race card on Monday, which is headlined by the Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices' Chase (2.50).

The meeting was rescheduled from Saturday due to frozen ground but clerk of the course Jane Hedley is confident racing will go ahead as conditions continue to improve.

Hedley said: "We're getting warmer through Saturday and into Sunday. It is getting milder all the time and it should get to around 5C by Sunday afternoon.

"We have a band of rain coming through on Sunday night, with temperatures continuing to climb up towards 10C just prior to racing on Monday.

"There are areas of ground under the covers, and with a good covering of grass, which are not far off thawed now [Saturday morning]. Some bare areas of the back straight need some thawing but in 24-48 hours they should be grand."

Carlisle's Tuesday fixture faces inspection

Carlisle inspects at 3pm on Monday for Tuesday with the ground frozen after six nights of consecutive frosts at the track.

Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said on Saturday afternoon: "The thaw is due to start tomorrow morning and there's no frost after that, so it's just a question of what wins the race and whether the thaw is complete in time for racing or whether there's still frost in the ground.

"We're in with a good shout. We've an inspection at 3pm on Monday and, if necessary, we could go again on Tuesday morning. If it was hopeless on Monday afternoon we'd abandon ship then, but if there's a bit of frost let we could roll the inspection on, although that might be gone by Monday."

Weather prospects

Sunday

Exeter
Soft, frozen in places
Outlook: Clerk of the course Daniel Cooper: "We're facing a significant uphill battle"

Punchestown
Chase - soft, hurdles - soft, yielding in places
Outlook: Unsettled over the weekend with rain forecast, officials monitoring strong wind conditions

Southwell
Standard to slow

Monday

Lingfield (jumpers’ bumpers)

Standard to slow
Outlook: Becoming milder on Sunday with some showers in the evening and temperatures rising again on Monday

Thurles
Currently unraceable due to snow
Outlook: Rain on Sunday but temperatures could rise to 11C on Sunday and Monday

Warwick
Soft
Currently frozen in places, frost covers deployed
Outlook: Inspection 3pm Sunday. Hard frost expected on Saturday but milder from Sunday, rising to 5C by the end of the day. Increasingly mild with a band of rain overnight into Monday with temperatures of up to 10C by lunchtime

Wolverhampton
Standard

Tuesday

Carlisle
Frozen (was heavy)
Outlook: Inspection 3pm Monday. Thaw due from Sunday

Catterick
Soft, frozen in places with a 2 inch snow covering
Outlook: Temperatures rising slowly through Sunday with the chance of light rain/sleet. Monday milder.

Kempton
Standard to slow

Newcastle
Standard to slow
Outlook: course to be ripped up before racing. Freezing temperatures over the weekend but milder on Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday

Hereford
Soft, frozen in places
Outlook: Temperatures slowly rising to 2C on Sunday. Milder with showers during the week

Kempton
Standard to slow

Wetherby
Heavy, soft in places, frozen in places
Outlook: From Sunday onwards a rise in temps through to 10C-12C is expected. Rain is forecast on Sunday night and Tuesday at the moment, otherwise dry and sunny spells

Wolverhampton
Standard

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