'We had the luck' - Cork and Southwell pass inspections, Newcastle abandons

Jump racing will take place on Sunday on either side of the Irish Sea after Cork and Southwell both passed inspections.

Newcastle's all-weather fixture was the only victim of the cold snap on Sunday morning after temperatures in the north-east reached -4C overnight. Carlisle's scheduled meeting was cancelled on Saturday, along with John Durkan Chase day at Punchestown.

The team at Southwell were "pleasantly surprised" to discover no frost when lifting the covers up at 9am on Sunday morning. The track has been fleeced since Tuesday and avoided the worst of the cold with temperatures mainly at -1C throughout the night.

Conditions will be monitored throughout the day with temperatures only forecast to reach a high of 1C.

Raceday clerk of the course David Attwood: "The track didn't freeze last night which is really positive. I didn't even have frost on my car windscreen. We're taking the covers off now but we're in a position to race today; we'll monitor the weather throughout the day but we're happy at the moment.

"We dipped to -3C last night but only briefly. The majority of the night we were just below freezing, we're not due to get much above that. We've not had the issues that some of the other tracks have had so we've been pleasantly surprised. We've had that luck that we needed."

Following the earlier abandonments, race times at Southwell have been put back seven minutes with the opening contest now due off at 12.30.

Earlier, the green light was also given to Cork's jumps meeting which includes the Grade 2 Hilly Way Chase (2.20), in which Champion Chase hero Energumene makes his return.

Clerk of the course Val O'Connell said on Sunday morning: "Following a precautionary inspection at Cork this morning I'm happy to say that the track is fit for racing and the meeting will go ahead. The ground is yielding to soft."

Meanwhile, Newcastle's news comes after Saturday's racing was controversially abandoned around half an hour before the first race. Clerk of the course Eloise Quayle deemed conditions raceable but racing professionals described the surface as "unsafe" and "frozen".

Punchestown's racing manager Richie Galway said it is hoped that Sunday's cancelled fixture featuring the John Durkan Chase can be rescheduled before Christmas.

"Our initial hope had been to reschedule to Tuesday", said Galway. "We've had discussions with the Met Office and the forecast isn't set to improve. It would be pointless.

"We'll need to meet with the HRI fixtures committee and various stakeholders, but it would be our hope to hold the meeting in advance of Christmas."

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