The Wetherby meeting abandoned due to freezing temperatures
The Wetherby meeting on Saturday, February 4, 2012 has been abandoned following bad weather conditions in England over the past one week. The decision was taken after an inspection was held at the track, and the organisers admitted there was absolutely
no chance of racing.
Unfortunately for the horse racing fans and the punters at Wetherby, the racecourse was frozen for the past few days, and it did not improve, as the temperature fell as low as minus six degree Celsius.
The race organisers at the venue said that abandoning today’s meeting was not a hard decision, as the conditions were worse over the past few days.
Jonjo Sanderson, clerk at Wetherby, was disappointed that no action was possible in the day. He stated, “Unfortunately it was not a hard decision. Parts of the course are still frozen solid at the temperature is dropping all the time.”
The clerk further went onto say, “We were not raceable at first-race time today and with 13 hours of freezing temperatures, reaching as low as -6C, there's very little chance of us being raceable come the time of the first race tomorrow.”
Weather conditions in England and Ireland have caused a lot of disruptions this week. There were many big events scheduled over the past few days, but they had to be abandoned due to frost on the racecourses.
Most of the tracks, which are due to hold races in the coming days, are under the threat of abandonment. However, the race organisers are trying their level best to keep the conditions normal for racing.
There has been some improvement seen at a few venues, such as Ffos Las and Fairyhouse. Both were affected due to freezing temperatures and had the frost covers on for the past few days. However, the organisers were hopeful that if the conditions improve
to some extent, the meeting could be possible.
Luckily, the temperatures got a bit better in those areas, which might now see some action today. However, nothing has been finalised yet, as there will be an inspection conducted at the venues today before the races begin.
The British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) has reacted to the current situation, and has announced a few extra races in the next couple of days.
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