Britain will face a second Saturday without jump racing after Ascot’s Christmas meeting featuring the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle was abandoned with the track still frozen on Thursday.
Temperatures plummeted to -6.5C overnight and with little indication that they would rise significantly during the daytime, plans to hold a Friday inspection were cancelled and the meeting called off. Friday’s racing at the track had already been lost.
Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickelts said: “There’s no prospect of it becoming raceable so there’s little prospect of us delaying the inevitable any further to be honest, so we have let everyone know so they can make plans.”
