Cork set for 8am inspection but Punchestown's John Durkan card cancelled

The John Durkan Chase card at Punchestown on Sunday has been cancelled due to snow and frozen ground at the track, with Cork's Hilly Way Chase card subject to a second inspection at 8am.

Galopin Des Champs, who is the general 5-2 favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, had been declared for the feature race but his reappearance is now on hold.

Punchestown's clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan said: "The track is covered in snow and we had a severe frost overnight. With no improvement in the weather over the next few days, Sunday's meeting has been cancelled.

"There will be further updates on Monday as to when the meeting can be rescheduled."

Punchestown's racing manager Richie Galway said it is hoped the fixture can be rescheduled before Christmas.

"Our initial hope had been to reschedule to Tuesday", said Galway. "We've had discussions with the Met Office and the forecast isn't set to improve. It would be pointless.

"We'll need to meet with the HRI fixtures committee and various stakeholders, but it would be our hope to hold the meeting in advance of Christmas."

Energumene is the star name declared to run at Cork and the track was fit for racing on Saturday. A second inspection on raceday morning will decide the meeting's fate.

Clerk of the course Val O’Connell said: “The track remains raceable at the moment. The ground is yielding to soft, soft in places. We did have frost last night but it didn’t get into the ground and was mostly a grass frost. We’re around 3-4C at the moment but in light of the forecast for further frost tonight we will hold another inspection at 8am on Sunday morning.”

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