Hereford forced to draw stumps

Officials at Hereford have been forced to call off their meeting on Tuesday as the cold snap continues to decimate the fixture list.

The track has been hit by severe frosts and snow in recent days and clerk of the course Keith Ottesen sees little point in delaying the inevitable.

“There is not a huge depth of snow here. We covered the track last week, but it is still frozen in places underneath,” said Ottesen.

“We’re due maximum temperatures of minus 2C today and it could get down to as low as minus 12C overnight.

“We’re then due minus 3C on Monday and possibly minus 10C on Monday night. There is a very high level of confidence in that.

“We’d need a massive swing in the situation and that isn’t going to happen, so it’s sensible at this stage to call it off.”