Southwell’s Friday card goes ahead but Saturday’s meeting at Lingfield, which will come to the rescue of ITV Racing, faces a morning inspectionLingfield’s Flat card on the all-weather on Friday was an early casualty, and Saturday’s meeting at the same course, which will come to the rescue of ITV Racing should it go ahead, is subject to an 8am inspection. The weekend’s jumps meetings are also long gone, drivers across the country are stuck in snowdrifts and the Met Office’s yellow weather warning will be in place until Monday at least – and yet, as things stand, there will still be racing at Southwell on Friday afternoon. Assuming, that is, that at least two horses per race actually make it...
There Will Be No Horse Racing Today but we do have a Cheltenham Festival quiz to keep your brain workingAs I think we’ve all noticed, it’s a bit nippy out. So nippy, in fact, that we have absolutely no racing at all to offer you. Not only have we lost the scheduled jumps cards at Ludlow and Taunton, but the “all-weather” action at Newcastle and Kempton has also bitten the dust, the result of heavy snow. If I had to bet on it, I’d say Southwell on Monday will be the next time we see jumps racing. The Nottinghamshire track is due rising temperatures and plenty of rain on Sunday, which may be enough to get rid of the snow...
Wednesday is a key date in the diary for serious punters, while the daily programme is impacted by the elementsWednesday is a key date in the diary for serious punters, as the weights for the handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival the week after next will be published and the business of trying to find a long-priced nugget of gold amid a daunting wealth of possibilities will begin in earnest. And it is just as well, given that there will be no jumps racing in Britain until Friday at the earliest and it is up to the all-weather programme to keep turnover rolling until the elements relent. Even the all-weather tracks are beginning to feel the strain, however. Newcastle’s card on...
Willie Mullins opened his doors to the media and here is a round-up of his comments on some of his leading contendersTo no one’s great surprise, the card at Catterick has failed to pass an inspection and the turf cards scheduled for Musselburgh and Market Rasen on Wednesday have also been abandoned. Chelmsford City, however, will race on the all-weather as planned, which means that with Lingfield also getting the go-ahead, racing will defy the Beast with a total of 13 races on Tuesday.Jorvik Dancer (4.15) is probably the pick of the prices in the sprint handicap at Chelmsford City. He completed a swift hat-trick in late December and early January but remains fairly weighted on the pick of his...
Jumps programme survives the cold snap, while Paul Nicholls looks to have his horses where he wants them for CheltenhamCold weather is expected to wreak havoc with the National Hunt programme over the next few days, but both of Monday’s cards over jumps have survived morning inspections and will go ahead as planned. Wrap up warm if you are going to either Plumpton or Ayr, though – the clerk of the course reported that it was 1C at the Scottish track at 9.30am and will not get any higher than 5C later on. Related: Gordon Elliott warns Samcro has to improve again to win at Cheltenham By Chris CookLingfield 1.55 Angelina D’Or 2.25 Ertidaad 2.55 Lady Noorah 3.30 Bernie’s Boy...