Hexham abandoned on Wednesday but Warwick goes ahead; Haydock and Ascot confident for weekend cards

Hexham's meeting on Wednesday has been abandoned due to a frozen track as the cold snap continues to strike in Britain. 

The six-race card was called off before the scheduled 8am raceday inspection.

Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: "It was a fairly easy call. The temperatures dropped here last night to below freezing at about 6pm and they've remained below freezing since then.

"We haven't had a lot of rain recently, but all the divot mix and repair work has gone solid with the cold temperatures. The temperatures aren't going to lift until well after 10am-11am today.

"Our next meeting is December 11, so we've got plenty of time before then."

Warwick survived its raceday inspection at 7am on Wednesday, but the track will hold another inspection at the same time on Thursday before the second part of its two-day winter festival as temperatures are due to drop to -3C on Wednesday night.

Clerk of the course Nessie Chanter said on Wednesday morning: "The soil temperatures are still 5C despite the fact it got to -2C overnight. The sun's coming out and it's rising a degree an hour. Our concern is tonight; it's going to drop down to -3C and it's a bit more sluggish to rise up above 0C."

The arrival of wet and snowy weather in is not causing concern ahead of Saturday's feature cards at Haydock and Ascot.

The Grade 1 Betfair Chase is the highlight of the weekend in Britain and the going at Haydock was good under the snow covers on Tuesday. 

Last year's winner Royale Pagaille could clash with exciting Turners Novices' Chase winner Grey Dawning, Ahoy Senor and the supplemented Capodanno in the 3m1½f contest.

Haydock is expecting rain on Saturday's Betfair Chase dayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"We're in a good place," clerk of the course Dan Cooper said on Tuesday afternoon. "We're reading the forecast with relative calmness, although the snow that came last night has hung around longer than we anticipated.

"We'll have to accept whatever frost comes each morning but I don't think it'll be penetrating soil frost, more grass frost, which recovers quite quickly. It's quite a sporadic forecast with regards to rain."

The going could change significantly during racing on Saturday, with rain forecast throughout the day.

Cooper said: "Saturday looks wall-to-wall rain from 1am to past 9pm. The going might deteriorate quite quickly. It might change during racing, but the ground can handle it this early in the season.

"Friday and Saturday look pretty normal in being wet and not frozen. The going is good at the moment but because of the snow I've been hesitant to do an update as you don't get a great feel of things."

The situation is similar at Ascot, where clerk of the course Chris Stickels said recent rain has been "helpful" for its two-day fixture. 

The meeting is headlined on Saturday by the £100,000 Ascot Hurdle, which could feature impressive Mares' Novices' Hurdle winner Golden Ace.

Stickels said: "We've had about 17.5mm in the last 24 hours and getting on for 25mm in the last seven days. We're a mixture of soft and good to soft as we speak. The rain has been helpful.

"It's going to get colder for the next couple of days. It could be quite frosty on Wednesday and Thursday morning and then it turns a bit milder again on Friday and Saturday, with rain on Saturday. Conditions could be a bit softer come Saturday. 

"There's the odd sleety shower but we're not forecast significant snow. We're talking about the temperature getting down to -1C and up to 4C, 5C and 6C. I don't envisage a problem with the rain that's forecast."

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