Sunday white-out in the UK
Musselburgh and Kempton became the latest meetings to fall to the cold snap ni the UK after both were forced to abandon cards scheduled for this afternoon.
Frost was the problem for the jumps fixture at Musselburgh, where clerk of the course Harriet Graham said after a 7am inspection: “We were tantalisingly close, but we’ve still got frozen places and have abandoned.
“Unfortunately it got to minus 1C overnight and we are not due to get warmer temperatures until midday.
“It is really frustrating.”
Concerns over a forecast for heavy snow came to fruition at Kempton, which was an additional all-weather fixture arranged by the British Horseracing Authority earlier in the week.
Kempton clerk Brian Clifford was left with little option following an 8am check of conditions.
He said: “We had six centimetres overnight and sadly we have had to abandon.
“The machines we wanted to use this morning kept clogging up, and in the timeframe we had, with it being an afternoon meeting, it would be too big a gamble.
“It’s not just the track, the general areas and infrastructure wouldn’t be clear in time.”
With Fontwell abandoned yesterday, the only action in Britain and Ireland today is set to be at Punchestown, where crack two-milers Big Zeb and Sizing Europe clash in the Tied Cottage Chase.
However, jumping in Britain does look set to resume tomorrow, with no problems reported at Ayr.
