'You can't beat mother nature' - Doncaster forced to cancel Thursday card after late blizzard

Doncaster's seven-race jumps card on Thursday has been cancelled due to heavy snowfall. The track was raceable when the meeting survived an inspection at 8am which had been called due to the yellow weather warning for snow.

However, a heavy snowstorm from midday onwards meant a second inspection was necessary while the runners for the first race, due off at 12.55, were circling in the parade ring. 

A delegation including clerk of the course Paul Barker and the jockeys due to ride in the opener deemed the track unsafe. 

"It's very disappointing," Barker told Sky Sports Racing. "This morning I walked it and it was nice, we'd had no rain, dry overnight. I walked it again at 10.30 with the stewards' panel chair and we just started to get a bit of sleet and the snow started to settle a little bit but nothing that would ever concern us.

"Jockeys were arriving and going out saying 'This is all fine'. About three-quarters of an hour before the first, we just had a really heavy downpour of a snow and it never really stopped. 

Jockeys and officials assessed conditions ahead of the openerCredit: Nigel Kirby

"While we were doing the inquiry, I spoke to the weather station for an update and they were saying you've probably got another three-quarters of an hour of this snow, the temperatures aren't going to increase so even if it stopped snowing, it wouldn't thaw or go anywhere. 

"You can't just beat mother nature. Three-quarters of an hour before the first, we were perfectly fit and ready to go. I just hope everybody has a safe journey home now."

The second scheduled race on Newcastle's Thursday card was postponed in unusual circumstances. The 1m2f handicap, which was due off at 5.05, will instead be run at the track's Saturday card for safety reasons. The Class 6 contest was due off after sunset and with floodlights only covering the straight course at Newcastle, the BHA deemed that it would be unsafe to stage the race.

The opener, due off at 4.30, will be delayed by ten minutes to decrease the time gap between what is now the second race at 5.35.

The seven-race jumps card at Thurles on Thursday was cancelled due to a waterlogged track. The going was changed on Thursday morning from yielding to soft to heavy after 10mm of rain on Wednesday night, but a further 7mm since 7.30am has left the track unraceable.

After 39mm of rain since declarations on Tuesday, clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer said: "Unfortunately, due to the vast volume of water in a short space of time, we have no option but to cancel the meeting scheduled for today. There is just not enough time for the water to soak into the track."

The fixture has been rearranged for next Tuesday, February 13.

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