Arctic blast hits Ludlow racecourse

Monday 20th December 2010, 11:13AM GMT.

Ludlow Racecourse
Ludlow Racecourse

The fresh arctic weather blast has accounted for all National Hunt racing before Christmas – with Ludlow amongst the casualties.

The traditional festive meeting at the south Shropshire track, which was due to be held on Wednesday, was abandoned yesterday due to snow and frost.

“We had minus 13c on Saturday night,” said clerk of the course Bob Davies.

“We haven’t had a chance since last week. It was a formality really. We could only have raced on two days since November 24.”

It means the weather has put paid to both Ludlow’s December meetings – as well as a host of others around the country.

Today’s all-weather meeting at Wolverhampton failed to survive the extreme temperatures after a 6.30am inspection this morning, meaning a blank day of action for punters.

Clerk of the course Fergus Cameron said: “The temperature didn’t get much above minus 6c yesterday and it’s minus 11c this morning with freezing fog.

“We have basically got frozen moisture suspended in the track.”

Today’s National Hunt cards at Ffos Las and Taunton had already fallen by the wayside, while tomorrow’s meeting at Sedgefield was called off after an inspection this morning.

Like Ludlow, Musselburgh is also off on Wednesday but there is due to be all-weather action tomorrow and Wednesday before racing ends for Christmas.

There were also problems over the weekend with Southwell the sole survivor of five meetings on Saturday while yesterday’s two scheduled cards – at Kempton and Carlisle – were off.

By JAMES GARRISON



TWITTER

Shropshire Star on Twitter Shropshire Star on Twitter

Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.

Lifestyle

Interactive Dining Out map Interactive Dining Out map

Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.

Entertainment

All the film reviews All the film reviews

Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.

OUR NEW APP

Get the new Shropshire Star app Get the new Shropshire Star app

Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.