Horse Racing Update: Kempton calls for midday inspection
The William Hill King George VI Chase is being flaunted throughout the country; nonetheless the event is now in jeopardy since the final decision about the meeting will now be announced after the midday inspection that will be conducted by the management
of the Kempton racecourse on Friday. The top-class meeting scheduled for Sunday now seems to be falling for the big freeze and the extreme weather conditions that have victimized almost all the horse racing events in the country which were scheduled for this
month and the end of last month.
The chances of the race not taking place were 1-4 (1.27) on Betfair this afternoon at around 3.25 p.m. while its prospects of surviving the big freeze were only 3-1 (4.1).
When the Kempton racecourse clerk, Barney Clifford was approached for his comments on the current scenario, he was reported as saying that the night temperatures in the area were as low as -1.5C along with the wind chill at a temperature as low as -6.5C
which made the process of thawing on the track almost impossible.
At 3 p.m., he went on to say that according to the forecast by the Met Office, they are expecting the temperature to dip down to around -3C tonight, whereas the temperatures for the Christmas Eve into Christmas Day have revealed to be -4/-5C. He added that
the Christmas evening to the Boxing Day has a forecast of -6C along with a wind chill that will have a factor of about -9C.
Clifford went on to say, “Looking beyond Boxing Day there is an indication that the forecast Boxing Day night could be zero with some rain or sleet and the wind direction moving round to the south west.”
Barney Clifford also said that this will give the management an opportunity to take the event on the 27th of December if the result of the inspection tomorrow results in the abandonment of the racing event on the Boxing Day. Clifford was of the
view that they will try their best but the final decision could only be taken after the inspection tomorrow.
On the other hand, the Chepstow’s Coral Welsh National meeting that was initially scheduled to take place this Monday has now been postponed till the 8th of January 2011. This decision was announced after the track was deemed unfit for staging
a racing event on Thursday.
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