Horse Racing, Sandown calls off Friday’s meeting
It will be a great disappointment for the fans of horse racing that the first day of the much anticipated and prestigious Tingle Creek Chase has been called off after inspection.
The meeting that was scheduled to take place on Friday has been cancelled by the officials of the Sandown racecourse. Meanwhile, the course will be inspected again at 3 p.m. on Thursday to make the final judgment about Saturday’s meeting at Sandown.
After the course being covered in three inches of snow, it was not very hard for the clerk of the course, Andrew Cooper to cancel the Friday meeting.
Nonetheless, the clerk is hopeful that the big freeze will be unsuccessful in claiming Saturday’s card at Sandown, which is to feature the Grade I Keith Prowse Hospitality Tingle Creek Chase.
When talking to the correspondents he was reported as saying, “We were forecast overnight snow and it certainly came down – it was horizontal at times. It was about three inches and the track is now covered in about four inches”.
When the clerk was questioned about the meeting on Saturday, he said, “We won’t be rushing into anything. There is a change in the weather over the weekend and Saturday might be a little clearer with some rain”.
Andrew Cooper also added, “Things will improve here and all over the country but it’s about timing”.
On the other hand, the other meeting that has fallen victim to the big freeze is the Saturday’s jump fixture that was take place at Navan. The reason is the same, the course is covered by a few inches of a thick layer of snow, making it unfit for the event
to take place.
The manager of the course, Darren said, “It is disappointing for our customers as we had a number of parties booked for this weekend which have been cancelled along with the racing”.
He further added, “There was nothing we could do. The weather beat us”.
Since the Grade I Navan Novice Hurdle event is scheduled to take place on the racecourse on Sunday, the management thinks it is impossible to reschedule the lost fixture this weekend. However, the manager said that there are chances of an additional fixture
to be arranged in the week after next, when the harsh weather conditions in the country improve. Meanwhile, Chestow has become the latest track to have called off Saturday’s meeting due to frost and the big freeze.
Tags: