Patrick Mullins celebrates on Sharjah
Patrick Mullins celebrates on Sharjah

Weather latest: Fairyhouse and Carlisle pass inspections, Leicester and Southwell abandoned


Fairyhouse and Carlisle have been given the green light to race this afternoon, but the meetings at Leicester and Southwell have been lost to the cold weather.

Day two of the Fairyhouse Winter Festival, which features a trio of Grade One contests, has survived the threat of frost and a dense fog.

Clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan said: “The fog has lifted, even a little earlier than Met Eireann said it would, which is great.

“You can see the full length of the straight here now and you can also see right around Ballyhack.

“As you know, fog is a bit tricky and it can come and go, but at this point in time, we don’t envisage any more problems.

“We’re in a good place now and we’re all good to go.”

Sheridan had earlier reported on the IHRB Twitter site: “Thankfully, the frost didn’t set in overnight.

“The ground on both tracks is soft. We’ve a completely fresh hurdles and bumper track and we’ve seven or eight yards of fresh ground on the chase track.”

Parts of Cumbria were hit by heavy snowfall overnight but Carlisle passed an early-morning inspection, plus a second check at 11.15am, although racegoers have been warned to be careful on the surrounding roads and there are lots of non-runners due to traffic issues.

Southwell’s ‘bumpers for jumpers’ card had to be called off after three inches of snow on the track and surrounding areas proved too much to clear.

Leicester were forced to abandon their National Hunt meeting due to the current cold snap.

Monday’s card at Ayr has also fallen, with parts of the track frozen and temperatures set to drop again tonight.


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