Britain will face a second Saturday without jump racing after Ascot’s Christmas meeting featuring the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle was abandoned with the track still frozen on Thursday.
Temperatures plummeted to -6.5C overnight and with little indication that they would rise significantly during the daytime, plans to hold a Friday inspection were cancelled and the meeting called off. Friday’s racing at the track had already been lost.
Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickelts said: “There’s no prospect of it becoming raceable so there’s little prospect of us delaying the inevitable any further to be honest, so we have let everyone know so they can make plans.”
The Long Walk Hurdle has been rescheduled to Boxing Day at Kempton with a value of £80,000, when it will be the second race on a seven race card.
The day’s other jumps meetings at Haydock and Newcastle have also been abandoned leaving the all-weather meetings at Lingfield and Chelmsford to provide the only Saturday racing action in Britain.
Saturday’s jump meeting at Fairyhouse will depend on a Friday morning inspection with the track also frozen and expectations are low for the meetings in Britain and Ireland on Sunday.
The meetings at Chelmsford and Southwell on Thursday will go ahead after passing morning inspections but the jumps meeting at Ffos Las was abandoned.
There has been no racing over jumps in Britain since last Friday when Cheltenham and Doncaster both went ahead but their Saturday meetings were called off after frost got into the ground.
