Thursday, January 14, 2010
THE two Thurles meetings which were due to be held today and tomorrow, but had to be cancelled because both the chase and hurdle tracks were found to be unfit for racing, have been rescheduled by Horse Racing Ireland.
The Thursday programme, consisting of five hurdle races and a bumper, will now take place on this Saturday and will clash with Naas, should that meeting go ahead.
Friday’s card, which was made up of six contests over fences, has been transferred to next Monday. The original entries will stand.
Meanwhile, in Britain, Huntingdon officials remain hopeful their meeting tomorrow can become the first jumps meeting to take place since Plumpton on January 3.
An inspection will be held at 8am today to assess the prospects.
Tomorrow’s other jumps meeting at Musselburgh remains in doubt with an inspection also called for 8am today.
However, with milder weather forecast the prospects are better for Saturday’s provisional fixture.
Saturday’s other provisional meeting at Fontwell has been abandoned due to heavy snow, as has the scheduled fixture at Warwick.
Kempton’s National Hunt card on Saturday is subject to a further inspection at 3pm this afternoon.
There are plans to stage a replacement all-weather bumper fixture at the track - which could see a hot of high-profile runners – but all is not yet lost for the jumps card.
Wetherby’s fixture on Saturday still hangs in the balance in light of a mixed forecast.
A thaw had set in at the West Yorkshire venue earlier in the week but there is the possibility of more snow and frost.
All-weather tracks have kept racing ticking over, although that has not been without its problems.
Lingfield’s fixture yesterday was lost due to snow and today’s meeting depends on a 6.30am precautionary inspection.
Wolverhampton have also called a 6.30am inspection ahead of today’s twilight fixture.
© Examiner Publications (Cork) Limited, City Quarter, Lapps Quay, Cork. Registered in Ireland: 73385.
