Weather woes continue as frost claims Plumpton card

Wednesday’s card at Plumpton has been cancelled due to a frozen track.

Clerk of the course Marcus Waters inspected the track at 8.30am and felt that conditions would not be raceable in time for the meeting to go ahead.

He said: “We got down to minus 2C and we were at that temperature for most of the night.

“I thought the frost had got a bit worse from when I walked the track at 6am and with temperatures slow enough to rise today, we’re not sure we’ll be raceable later on today.

“It’s very disappointing but we thought it was fairer to everyone to make a decision rather than delay.”

With Newbury already called off, there will be no jumps racing in Britain for a second day. Wolverhampton’s all-weather card goes ahead after the track passed a second precautionary inspection following overnight snow.

Thursday’s National Hunt action hinges on an 8am inspection on raceday at Wincanton ahead of their Somerset National meeting, with Ludlow cancelled following an inspection on Wednesday morning.

Officials at Ludlow report the track to be frozen in places with further frost forecast.

Newcastle’s Thursday card was called off on Tuesday for similar reasons while Friday’s fixture at Market Rasen, which features the Listed Alan Swinbank mares’ bumper, is subject to a noon inspection on Thursday.

Fairyhouse will have to pass a 3pm inspection on Wednesday if the scheduled meeting on Thursday is to go ahead.

Areas of the track are not fit for racing due to frozen ground, with temperatures not forecast to rise significantly.