Sedgefield gets green light after fifth inspection

It took five inspections, but with less than an hour until the first race, officials at Sedgefield were able to confirm Monday's meeting would go ahead.

With temperatures dipping to -3c on Monday morning, some areas were found to be frozen during an initial 7.30am inspection and there was not sufficient improvement by the time a second inspection was held at 9.30am.

A third look at 11am and a fourth at 12pm also failed to provide conclusive answers, but by 1pm conditions had improved sufficiently. The last hurdle in the home straight will be omitted for all races.

Lingfield's jumps fixture was cancelled on Saturday, but there is also all-weather action on Monday at Wolverhampton.