Chepstow's Welsh National card rescheduled for January 6

Chepstow's Coral Welsh National card will now be staged on January 6 after Wednesday's meeting was claimed by the weather.

Clerk of the course Keith Ottesen said the decision to cancel the card was ultimately an easy one after the track was hit with 40mm of rain through Tuesday afternoon and the early hours of Wednesday.

That deluge took the total amount of rainfall in the 48 hours leading into Wednesday morning to 60mm, with Ottesen having been expecting only 20mm, which he says the course could have handled.

An inspection had been called for 7.30am on Wednesday but the decision to cancel came almost an hour earlier than that with conditions clearly too bad to allow any hope of racing.

Chepstow management entered discussions with the BHA and the sponsors and it was confirmed shortly afterwards that the meeting will now be staged on Saturday, January 6, the same date that was chosen when the 2010, 2012 and 2015 renewals were lost on their original dates.

The decision to cancel the meeting came a long time before the planned 7.30am inspection

"Yesterday, we would have raced no problem but we have had 40mm since 2pm on Boxing Day, with a bit of snow as well," said Ottesen on Wednesday morning.

"We're waterlogged and flooded in places, we've got a lake at the bottom of the track, it's ridiculous. We'd been positive all week because we just didn't expect this to happen but we were never going to get the improvement needed for the rest of the day and so in that respect, it was an easy decision.

"I've had trainers on from Gloucestershire and some places saying they wouldn't have been able to get here anyway because the snow is so bad as well."

Entries for the Coral Welsh National will now revert to the original entry stage in November, meaning those who did not declare for Wednesday would be able to do so again should connections wish.

With Chepstow's switch, Newcastle's meeting that had been scheduled for the same day will now be run on Sunday, January 7, with ITV in discussions to show races from Chepstow's restaged meeting alongside Sandown and Wincanton.

General admission badge holders and hospitality guests have the option of transferring their tickets to the new date or any other 2018 fixture, or get a full refund by contacting the course and executive director Phil Bell paid tribute to those who had worked on the new arrangements.

"The Coral Welsh Grand National is one of the biggest jump races of the year, and a feature of Welsh sporting calendar. For all of our customers, and our sponsor Coral, it is sad to be in this situation but the amount of rain and snow simply exceeded all expectations," said Bell.

"We’d like to thank all involved, including the BHA, Horserace Betting Levy Board, ITV and our sponsors Coral for facilitating the change in date."

Coral have reissued ante-post prices, with Beware The Bear heading the market at 9-1 ahead of 10-1 Folsom Blue.

The firm's Simon Clare added: "It is desperately disappointing to lose the meeting at this late stage, particularly for the team of people at Chepstow and at Coral that have given up their valuable Christmas family time to work on a race meeting that hasn’t taken place.

"All ante-post bets placed on the Coral Welsh Grand National since the original entry stage will remain valid for the re-staged race on January 6, including any ante-post bets settled as losers at subsequent forfeit and declaration stages, which will now be revived.

“However, given the unique set of circumstances, we will give customers the opportunity to void their ante-post bets if they wish to do so, and they have until midnight on December 31 to contact the Coral customer service team and let them know. After that date all ante-post bets will stand, all in run or not.”

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