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3 inches overnight, the writing is really on the wall now by the looks of it with an 8am inspection called for Friday
I thought course officials were being overly optimistic yesterday when they said that they should be ok because all the forecasts I saw were dire.
Ireland would reschedule the whole card for later in the week but lets just see what the brains trust at the BHA do
Such reports were a regular exercise back in the 70s when the ‘Schweppes’ as was seemed to be under threat from the weather every year.
For much of the period Schweppes Ltd. got excellent publicity without the race taking place.
Rob
I suppose they could say Sunday initially (inspect at 7.30am on the day)and then look at later next week if things still haven’t improved by then.
I don’t buy all this nonsense about the irish being different to us because they have a lighter fixture list – surely a card like this at Newbury takes precedence over next week’s cards at Leicester, Musselburgh and Fakenham.
Apparently it is 1-2 on betfair for the meeting to be off, but I can’t find it.
I think there is still a good chance it will go ahead.
I’ve had a look at the 24 hour forecast for Newbury, and the lowest temperature tonight is +1C. There will also be quite a bit of sleet tonight, but won’t that be a good thing as it will melt the snow?
On, the other hand, it makes the going even softer.
The forecast for Friday night is a low of -2C.
If covers can’t cope with -2C, then what is the bleeding point in them?
Ironically, Saturday is a sunny day, but the high is only 3C.
There was a good 3 – 4 inches snowfall through the night. Temperatures have raised slightly and the snow has been starting to melt but the rain that is being experienced to the east of us hasn’t materialised this far west yet; more snow is forecast tonight.
Holding an inspection as early as 8am on Friday surely means that they believe it’s got no chance
Good to see Kempton making plans to put their Friday card back 24 hours if it gets called off though, bit of initiative for a change.
Here’s a picture of Cheltenham being cleared of snow in time for the Festival following the famous big freeze in 1963…
The Clerk of the Course for Newbury was interviewed on RUK about an hour, hour-and-a-half ago.
He said the turf beneath the covers is fine.
He also said that the covers are relatively cheap, and as a last resort they could cut them into smaller pieces, and pull them off the track!
Apparently if Newbury is off, then the BHA are hoping to reschedule the AON and Game Spirit "next week".
Can somebody help me a minute please.
Newbury,Kempton,Bangor,Warwick are all in doubt for the weekend meetings.
Today they raced at Taunton.
Why not move the major races from Warwick and Newbury to Taunton for a Somerset Super Saturday?
Sure the Gold Trophy might have to ballot some more out but if a track is available to race at the moment then this must be utilized.
Where i am it would be okay for Haydock to race next week and it would be okay to race on Saturday aslong as we dont have a Train fair,Wedding Fair or New Homes Fair.
Can somebody help me a minute please.
Newbury,Kempton,Bangor,Warwick are all in doubt for the weekend meetings.
Today they raced at Taunton.
Why not move the major races from Warwick and Newbury to Taunton for a Somerset Super Saturday?
Sure the Gold Trophy might have to ballot some more out but if a track is available to race at the moment then this must be utilized.
Where i am it would be okay for Haydock to race next week and it would be okay to race on Saturday aslong as we dont have a Train fair,Wedding Fair or New Homes Fair.
Taunton could not take another days racing so soon after today – even before racing officials were concerned about the damage that would done to the racing surface.
As for staging the meetings elsewhere at short notice you have to sort out the logistics of setting everything up, as Shadow Leader pointed out in another thread. You need to arrange catering, TV rigging crews, just to name two.
In the current conditions even busing in staff from the original venues could be problematical, assuming they would be happy to traipse across the country in the first place.
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If Kempton does look to be raceable on Saturday, surely its not beyond the wit of the BHA to move it, and move Newbury to Sunday, when they also appear to have a much better chance of racing?
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