Kempton among morning inspections

Kempton's card today hinges on the outcome of a 7.30am inspection while officials at Wetherby and Leicester are hopeful that they can beat the weather for their scheduled meetings to go ahead. However, there are no problems predicted for Chepstow's Welsh National card.

Wetherby was one of seven programmes abandoned yesterday but course manager James Sanderson felt optimistic about the chances of the second day's fare going ahead despite having called an inspection this morning.

He said: "I feel a lot more positive because it's forecast to get a bit milder and it wouldn't take much to shift it." It just wasn't going to happen yesterday. Sanderson added that the Castleford Chase would not be transferred to today's card.

Meanwhile, Leicester's meeting is also subject to an early morning inspection. However, clerk of the course Nick Lees, who described the course as "frozen in places", was hopeful of racing going ahead as planned. "It's frozen in places so we're going to have a look at 7.30am but temperatures are forecast for 3C today and it's not to be very cold tonight," he explained. "If the temperatures rise, then I am hopeful of racing."

The going is good to soft, soft in places on the hurdle track, and good to firm, good in places on the chase course."

Kempton clerk of the course Brian Clifford said: "We're having a precautionary inspection because of the forecast. We're told it is going to get down to minus three tonight."

Although yesterday's big King George VI Chase meeting at Kempton got the go ahead, together with Wincanton's St Stephen's Day card, there was disappointment at the remaining five courses in Britain which held inspections.

Sedgefield was the first to go with the overnight frost leaving the course frozen, according to clerk of the course James Hutchinson.

He said: "We're a non-starter, we're frozen solid. It got down to -3C overnight and it is not forecast to get above 2C."

At Huntingdon, plummeting overnight temperatures left clerk of the course Michael Prosser with little option but to abandon. "It's not forecast to get above 2C today and parts of the track are frozen," he said. "It wasn't a very difficult decision, in all honesty."

Towcester's inspection was also in vain. Clerk of the course Charlie Moore explained: "The temperature is still -2.5C and the frost is getting into the ground harder. With only 2C forecast, there is little sign of the frost coming out today.

"So, in the interests of safety and with much reluctance, we have abandoned."

Hereford's hopes of a rise in temperature were quickly dashed. Deputy clerk of the course Jason Loosemore said: "We've unfortunately had to decide to abandon racing. The forecast wasn't promising enough basically and the frost is well set in."

At Market Rasen, clerk of the course Geoff Stickels explained: "We've had this very hard wind chill and frost over the last two hours and it's too risky."

Ayr was the final card to be lost when officials at the track were forced into a late morning check. All was well at dawn but plummeting temperatures resulted in the abandonment of the card.

The card at Down Royal was also abandoned, because of snow.