JP McManus benefits after Kempton beats the big freeze - as Harry Cobden fields rumours he's about to become his new number one

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

All of the talk last month was about the need to save Kempton but it was the track with an uncertain future that salvaged jump racing on Saturday.

Between the sub-zero temperatures and Storm Goretti, there has been precious little reason for racing fans to cheer this week, but with Warwick and Fairyhouse lost to the frost, Kempton came to the rescue and delivered a day that encapsulated the glorious highs and excruciating lows of the sport.

After it was revealed in the build-up to Boxing Day that the Jockey Club had in 2018 given the developer Redrow an option to take control of the site, the long-term prospects of racing at Kempton hang in the balance. The same was true for this meeting, which narrowly survived a morning inspection. Had the temperatures dropped to -3C overnight as forecast – rather than a comparatively balmy 1.5C – then the meeting would have been in serious doubt.