Frozen Temperatures Force Race Day Cancellations in UK

Newcastle Racecourse became the fourth meeting to succumb to the freezing temperatures Dec. 10 as stewards deemed the surface unfit to race upon less than 30 minutes before the start of the first race. This followed inspections at Cheltenham Racecourse, Doncaster Racecourse, and Hereford Racecourse where racing was canceled due to frozen ground, with the only surviving fixture a seven-race all-weather card at Wolverhampton Racecourse. Coverage on ITV4 had been due to show five races from Newcastle after the cancellations of the jumps meetings earlier in the day. Speaking to Sky Sports Racing, chief steward Adrian Smith said: "Concerns had been raised by jockeys and trainers regarding the surface, and we held the inspection with three trainers, three jockeys, course executives, and veterinary officers. "We found that with the surface where it is fluffed up is fine, but as soon as you go down an inch, it appears the ground is frozen. It's very firm underneath, and unanimously, the jockeys and trainers all said it wasn't safe for horses to race on it. "I asked the clerk if she could do any more work, but she said that they'd done everything they possibly can at this point, and with temperatures due to get lower as the day goes on, it was a no-brainer. There was no way of getting around things. "When you get this type of temperature any moisture just turns solid, and everyone was of the opinion that it wasn't safe, and at the end of the day, the safety of jockeys and horses is the most important thing." Jockeys and trainers at Newcastle expressed their frustration at the timing of the inspection, with it taking place less than hour before racing rather than in the morning, but clerk of the course Eloise Quayle believed the surface was raceable. "We've done absolutely everything that we could in preparation for this meeting. The track has been worked since Thursday, this morning it's been going on since first light. We've been working endlessly to keep it mobile," Quayle said. "There isn't much moisture in the surface having ripped it, and we don't feel there has been a problem with freezing. "But we've got to take into account other people's opinions, and it has to be taken seriously if there are any doubts. We've come to the conclusion that they didn't want to race on it, and that is fine." Newcastle is due to stage an additional fixture on Sunday, which is due to start at 12:08 p.m. local time, and Quayle is hopeful the meeting will go ahead but will be holding an inspection at 7:30 a.m. "We're going to review today for tomorrow's fixture, and tomorrow morning, and make sure we are in a better place. We're looking at different ways we can rip the track but we're just going to be fighting against the temperature," Quayle added. "We can't beat the weather, but we can do our best, and that's what we are going to do." A "mammoth effort" to protect Cheltenham from temperatures as low as -5C failed on Saturday morning as the second day of the International meeting was canceled due to frozen ground. ITV Racing was set to cover four races from Cheltenham, including the prestigious December Gold Cup and International Hurdle, along with three from Doncaster, but that fixture is similarly off. Hereford, the other jumps fixture in Britain, was canceled following a second inspection at 9:30 a.m. Groundstaff at Cheltenham spent three hours putting 40 acres worth of covers on the track after the final race at 3:35 p.m. on Friday. Clerk of the course Jon Pullin said his team was "gutted" by the morning's news. Pullin said: "The teams were straight onto getting the course covered after the last race yesterday. Temperatures were already at 0C at the time of the last and then dropped to -1C and -2C as the redeployment of the covers was taking place. It was a huge effort from the team to ensure that we got the course fully covered in just under three hours. "Temperatures then dropped and were consistently -4C from midnight onwards and dipped to a low of -5C. Unfortunately the frost has caught the ground underneath so we're not in a position to race today. "It's a big disappointment. It was a mammoth effort on Friday to get racing on and to get the covers down afterwards. We're all gutted, but the frost has beaten us this time." Pullin said no decision had yet been made about rescheduling some of Saturday's key races. Other notable races on the card were the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (G2) and JCB Triumph Trial. Meanwhile, Doncaster was forced to repair parts of the track after racing on Friday, but due to a drop in temperature at that time, groundstaff was unable to cover the track. Doncaster's clerk of the course Paul Barker said: "We were looking to fleece last night following racing yesterday, but unfortunately as we were starting the work, the temperature was dropping. "It wasn't worth putting another fleece down because we already had frost in the ground. We left it overnight, and we arrived today, with the intention of a 9:30 a.m. inspection, but I walked around at 6:30 a.m. and we were still frozen." Hereford was the last of the three jumps fixtures to fall victim to the frost. A second inspection was scheduled at 9:30 a.m. and temperatures dropped to as low as -6C overnight. Elizabeth O'Flaherty, clerk of the course at Hereford, said: "I'm annoyed and frustrated, but you can't beat the weather. We held a second inspection where we came out at 9 a.m. and pulled off the covers as the sun was coming out and we had more daylight. "Temperatures dropped to about -6C overnight, and we've not got sufficient temperatures to recover the shaded areas of the track. "We gave it as much time as we could and we did everything we could, but unfortunately the weather beat us."