Plummeting temperatures force abandonment of Lanzarote card at Kempton

Kempton’s Coral Lanzarote Hurdle meeting scheduled for Saturday has been abandoned due to a frozen track.

Conditions deteriorated rapidly at the course, as just 24 hours previously there had been no inspection planned.

Earlier in the week the problem had been flooding, but that had receded in time to make the course raceable by Thursday.

However, an extremely cold night which saw temperatures reach almost minus 7C scuppered any plans of racing.

Clerk of the course Barney Clifford said: “We’d just been waiting for confirmation from all the forecasts, but we’re forecast minus 2C again tonight and a high of 2C tomorrow.

“We’re not going to get above 2C today, it’s currently still sitting at minus 2.5C at 10.45am and we’re still frozen solid.

“It was an easy call because we recorded a minus 6.8C which, apart from a minus 11C in 2010, is about as cold as I can remember it here. Thankfully it’s due to warm up in a few days.”

Friday’s all-weather meeting at Lingfield was abandoned following a second inspection and Kelso on Sunday off due to a frozen track.

Lingfield’s Polytrack surface was described as too lumpy and it was deemed there was insufficient time and temperatures to see enough improvement.

Saturday’s meetings at Warwick and Wetherby were others already lost. The Unibet Veterans’ Final, originally due to take place at Sandown last week and then moved to Warwick, will now take place at Market Rasen on Friday.

After an early-morning inspection, Kelso clerk of the course James Armstrong posted on X: “Sadly we have no option but to abandon racing on Sunday.

“We have now had two successive nights of hard frost and more to come. The track is frozen. Positive temperatures not likely until late morning on Sunday, which is clearly not enough time for a thaw!”