Sandown gets the go-ahead following inspection but Wincanton lost to frost

Today’s meeting at Sandown will go ahead as planned after the track passed a morning inspection, but Wincanton have abandoned their card due to a frozen course.

Sandown’s card, which features the Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase, was subject to an 8am precautionary check, with frost covers put down in an attempt to beat a forecast freeze.

A statement from the track said: “We are pleased to say that we have passed this morning’s precautionary inspection and racing will go ahead.

“Temperatures hovered at roughly 0 degrees for most of the night and underneath the frost covers the ground is deemed raceable.

“We will start lifting the frost covers at 8.30am and we will have to continue to monitor the ground conditions once exposed to the low daytime temperatures.”

Wincanton also called an initial inspection for 8am and checked conditions again at 10.15am, with a third check at 11.30am then required due to an area of ground that remained unraceable.

After the third inspection the meeting was eventually abandoned as the area had not sufficiently thawed and was still unsafe for racing on.

A statement from the track, posted on X, said: “Unfortunately racing has been abandoned as parts of the track remain unraceable.

“The temperatures have not risen as quickly as forecast and as a result track conditions have not improved as we had hoped.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the late decision however we wanted to give the fixture every chance of taking place.

“We are all disappointed by this outcome, but the safety of our participants will always take priority.”