Betfair Hurdle favourite Ocastle Des Mottes 'not a definite runner' as high winds could scupper Newbury travel plans

Heavy snow is unlikely to threaten the action at Newbury but travel conditions could prevent Saturday's big-race ante-post favourite from travelling to Berkshire, with Ocastle Des Mottes's participation in the Betfair Hurdle in the balance.

Simon Munir and Isaac Souede's five-year-old may be unable to take a ferry from Ireland due to high winds on Wednesday, according to the owner's racing manager, although he said the £155,000 contest was being "strongly considered" for the Willie Mullins contender.

Bromley said: "We're strongly considering the race, but there may be an issue with high winds and getting horses across the Irish Sea. There are lots of different reasons why I can't say he's a definite runner. We're Tuesday now and the horse would need to start travelling on Wednesday, so we'll have to check the seas."

Ocastle Des Mottes shortened into 4-1 on Tuesday for what would be his first start for Ireland's champion trainer, who won all eight Grade 1 races at the Dublin Racing Festival last weekend. 

Bromley described his price as "mad" on Tuesday and added: "It's ridiculous he's favourite, but that's because of connections and the unknown quantity of him. I'm not a gambler, so punters can make up their own minds, but two miles might be too sharp and he needs to get into the tempo of the race to learn about it."

Willie Mullins: has the current favourite for the Betfair Hurdle Credit: Caroline Norris

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow in parts of the Midlands and north of England as well as Scotland and Northern Ireland which could impact some midweek fixtures but is unlikely to threaten Saturday's two Premier racing cards at Newbury and Warwick. 

Newbury is braced for a wet week – as much as 35mm of rain before racing – which is predicted could change the ground to soft.

Clerk of the course George Hill said: "It should be dry for racing but we'll have quite a bit of rain before that. Knowing what's to come and how the track reacts to it I'd say we'd be something like soft or soft, good to soft in places at best."

Snow, which is anticipated to arrive on Thursday, is causing concern for fixtures at Doncaster on Thursday, Bangor on Friday and the following day's action at Uttoxeter. 

Uttoxeter could be hit with as much as 60mm of rain ahead of the weekend and clerk of the course Richard Fothergill said: "The top end of the forecast puts a bit of pressure on us. We're not out of the woods yet but we've had a dry start to the year which gives us a fighting chance at least."

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