Frost and snow, which caused the abandonment of three of Saturday's jumping cards in Britain, are threatening to disrupt the busy St Stephen's Day programme, with some courses already planning to hold inspections.

But officials at Kempton Park are optimistic racing will go ahead as planned on Wednesday, when the feature event is the £150,000 Pertemps King George VI Chase.

Clerk of the course Brian Clifford said yesterday: "It's a bit frosty at the minute.

"We could have raced here yesterday, no problem, at noon but last night's frost was more severe and around for longer.

"The forecast is very uplifting in that we are forecast eight degrees tomorrow so I don't anticipate any problems at present. We should be okay." Officials at Wetherby believe they have a "reasonable chance" of staging their holiday fixture, which includes the Grade Two £35,000 Castleford Chase.

There is also some optimism at Huntingdon despite a keen frost on Saturday night.

Ayr racecourse has escaped the recent cold snap, with spokesman Chris Kennedy reporting: "The going is good to soft and there are no problems at the moment." And it is a similar story at Wincanton.

However, prospects of racing going ahead at Sedgefield are bleak. Clerk of the course James Hutchinson explained: "We are going to inspect at noon tomorrow.

There will also be a precautionary inspection at Market Rasen today to assess the chances of racing going ahead at the Lincolnshire track.

The milder weather needs to arrive to rescue Towcester's fixture.

Hereford is also in doubt and the local stewards will hold a precautionary inspection at 7a.m. On Wednesday.

The only Flat meeting on is on the Fibresand at Wolverhampton.