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Newbury Saturday Card Snowed Off.
The valuable card due to take place at Newbury tomorrow has been abandoned due to snow.
For most of the week, Newbury officials had been optimistic the anti-frost covers they put down on their track 2 weeks ago would prove sufficient to ensure the Betfair sponsored meeting would go ahead, but 4 centimetres of snow fell on top of the covers last night, and this left Newbury officials with little option but to abandon their meeting.
Elaborating on his decision to abandon, Clerk of the Course Richard Osgood said:
“We had to abandon, as there is snow on the covers, and no predicted rise in temperatures or rain to fix it.”
With the likes of Long Run, sprinter Sacre, and Zarkandar, all due to use the Newbury Meeting as part of their preparation for the Cheltenham Festival, there is a possibility the meeting could be re-arranged, with Osgood commenting:
“We’ve had preliminary discussions about re-staging the fixture, and while I understand we are looking to re-arrange it for next weekend, I know nothing other than that at the moment.”
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) later tweeted:
“Discussions are under way involving the racecourse, the sponsors, the BHA, the Levy Board, and the broadcasters - to restage the whole Newbury card, or at least, save the key races.”
Footnote: Later this afternoon, the BHA confirmed they had given permission for a new meeting to take place at Newbury next Friday.
The new 7 race card will include the Betfair Hurdle, the Betfair Denman Chase, and the Game Spirit Chase, as well as the Scilly Isles Novices Chase, which had been switched from Sandown's abandoned meeting last weekend to tomorrow's now abandoned meeting at Newbury.
Three of the above mentioned premier races will now be shown on Channel 4 at lunchtime next Friday - Full details to follow.
Musselburgh Saturday Meeting Offers Free Tickets.
With Newbury announcing its meeting is abandoned, Channel 4 will televise four races at the John’s Smith’s Scottish Cheltenham Trials over the East Lothian course at Musselburgh.
As a boost to racing fans desperate for live National Hunt action, Musselburgh is putting up 1000 free admission tickets for the £80,000 meeting which has attracted a hugely competitive list of runners.
The free ticket promotion was announced on social media sites Twitter and Facebook and went live at noon. Race goers can only secure the free tickets by visiting the racecourse website, www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk and following the normal booking procedure.
A minimum of 1000 tickets are available up until midnight (Friday) and no telephone bookings will be accepted.
As a result of the live television coverage the running order has been changed and race times altered by five minutes.
Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworth, said:
”With UK race cards decimated due to the weather the spotlight falls on us as the only jumps meeting on Saturday and we have lined up an excellent card with increased prize money.
“It has been a roller-coaster week for racing fans with on/off meetings and to reward our loyal customers we are putting up a minimum of 1000 free tickets on a first come- first served basis. We hope it adds to what will be a great atmosphere with some of the leading trainers making the trip with a selection of their Cheltenham and Aintree prospects.
“The course is frost free, we’ve had some overnight rain and the forecast is +8 for Saturday so we are all set for an excellent days racing and we would encourage race goers to come along and enjoy the quality that is on show.”
Around £400,000 up for grabs on Totescoop6.
Although the elements have decimated the racing fixture list yet again this weekend, the totescoop6 will still have a mix of National Hunt and all-weather action despite the fact Newbury’s Super Saturday meeting was abandoned.
This weekend’s bet comes from Lingfield and Musselburgh with all six races live on Channel 4. Lingfield’s Blue Square Series continues on Saturday whilst Musselburgh host their valuable Cheltenham trials day which has been rearranged from last Sunday.
The totejackpot is at Musselburgh on Saturday whilst the totetrifecta rollover race will be the Bet At Blue Square Handicap (3.45 Musselburgh).
totescoop6 races – 11/02/12
Leg 1: 2.20 Lingfield
Leg 2: 2.35 Musselburgh
Leg 3: 2.50 Lingfield
Leg 4: 3.10 Musselburgh
Leg 5: 3.25 Lingfield
Leg 6: 3.45 Musselburgh
Exeter to inspect on Sunday morning.
Exeter’s Valentines Meeting, scheduled to take place on Sunday, is under threat from frost, and the meeting will be subject to an 8.00 am inspection on raceday morning.
The track would be raceable today, but sub-zero temperatures are forecast for the next two nights, and while Clerk of the Course, Barry Johnson, would like to give his meeting every chance, he did not sound entirely optimistic when commenting today:
“It’s due to get down as low as -4c tonight and tomorrow night, but the daytime temperatures could give us a chance, but it is going to depend entirely on how fast the temperature rises, and how far it rises.”
Because of the advance demand for tickets for Exeter’s Valentine’s Meeting, course officials have confirmed tickets will only be available via the website until Saturday night, but potential race-goers should note, no tickets will be available on the turnstiles on Sunday.
Hereford to check again.
The national hunt card scheduled to take place at Hereford on Sunday afternoon is now subject to a further inspection at 11.30 am on Saturday.
Rain and warmer temperatures brought some respite to the course last night, and only a few frozen patches remain today, but with sub-zero temperatures due over the next couple of nights, Clerk of the Course, Keith Otteson, has decided to check his track again tomorrow morning, with Otteson remarking:
“It is supposed to be very cold tonight, but we couldn’t call it off at this stage, and it will all depend on how cold it gets tonight really.
“We’ll take a look on Saturday morning, and go from there.”
Catterick to check ahead of Monday card.
Catterick officials have confirmed they will hold an inspection of their course at 8.00 am on Sunday to assess the chances of Monday’s scheduled national hunt meeting going ahead.
The North Yorkshire track is currently frozen with a covering of snow, and Clerk of the Course Fiona Needham is not optimistic, reporting:
“The course has been frozen since 03 February, and the only glimmer of hope is that temperatures are due to rise on Sunday and Monday, but I fear it may be too little too late.
“We’ll review the forecast and the course on Sunday morning to assess if there is any point in going-on, but I have to admit, I’m not very hopeful of racing goind ahead at this stage.”
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