Cold snap threatens Saturday's ITV action with Sandown and Wincanton facing morning inspections

Sandown and Wincanton's Saturday cards must pass raceday inspections as the cold snap continues to threaten racing in Britain and Ireland.

Sandown is set to headline the action on ITV with four races, including the popular Unibet Veterans' Handicap Chase (3.00). However, with temperatures forecast to drop below zero at the track overnight officials will assess conditions during a 7.30am inspection.

Speaking on Friday afternoon, Sandown's clerk of the course Andrew Cooper said: "In light of the forecast we need to have a look, as there's a bit of uncertainty overnight and there's a possible freezing fog in the morning.

"We had a sharper frost than figures suggested on Thursday night, but we were raceable by midday on Friday. It's going to drop again tonight though and temperatures could get to -1C or even -2C overnight, so it's necessary to have a check."

Wincanton: subject to an inspection on Saturday morningCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Three of Wincanton's seven races are also set to feature on ITV, but the track faces an 8am inspection beforehand. Temperatures dipped to as low as -6C on Thursday night and could drop to -3C this evening.

Wincanton's clerk of the course Tom Ryall said: "We're more hopeful than confident. Thursday night was our first proper frost, the course was raceable today, but we could get down to -3C overnight and we're going to have a look.

"The problem is it'll be the second night in a row below freezing and we don't have the luxury of much sunshine tomorrow. It's going to be overcast and only as high as 2C, so we need the forecast to play ball."

Newcastle's jumps card has already been cancelled due to a frozen track, while Cork's meeting must pass an 8am inspection with temperatures set to reach as low as -2C overnight.

Wolverhampton is also monitoring conditions for its evening meeting due to a Met Office amber weather warning for snow.

Inspections

Saturday

• Sandown - 7.30am
• Cork - 8am
• Wincanton - 8am

Sunday

• Naas - 7.30am
• Leicester - 7.45am (for Tuesday's card)

Musselburgh: Friday's card was cancelled minutes before the opening raceCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Musselburgh abandoned Friday's jumps card due to frozen ground after a total of five inspections, with the final verdict made just six minutes before the first race.

The track assessed conditions twice on Thursday before morning inspections failed at 8am and 10.15am. The surface had still not improved for the third check on Friday, scheduled at 12pm, and the fixture was called off at 12.21pm, with the first race due off as 12.27pm.

It was the only jumps fixture in Britain and Ireland before the weekend and featured a runner from Ireland as well as two making the near 740-mile round trip from Lambourn.

A 7.30am raceday inspection will also be held at Naas on Sunday ahead of its Grade 1 card due to the threat of snow on Saturday night.

The star-studded meeting is headlined by the Lawlor's of Naas Novice Hurdle (1.55), in which Jasmin De Vaux is among the potential runners, while the Grade 2 Racing Post Novice Chase (1.25) includes Inthepocket and Firefox.

Temperatures at the County Kildare track are forecast to drop to -2C overnight with snow forecast from 6pm on Saturday through to Sunday morning.

Clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan said on Friday morning: "The ground at present is soft but we've got a grass frost which hasn't gone into the ground anywhere. The forecast is for temperatures to pick up a little bit and, with the sun out, the frost should clear away.

"The temperature tonight, talking to Met Eireann earlier, is to get down to -2C or -3C. There's no frost on Saturday night but there is rain or snow moving in from Saturday night and through Sunday. It could be rain, snow or sleet, it's uncertain.

"In light of that forecast, we'll have a further inspection on Sunday at 7.30am. At the moment the track is raceable."

Officials at Leicester will also inspect on Sunday at 7.45am ahead of racing on Tuesday.

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