Punchestown rescheduled for Tuesday

Racing : This afternoon's meeting at Punchestown, set to feature the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase, has been cancelled…

Racing: This afternoon's meeting at Punchestown, set to feature the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase, has been cancelled due to frost.

Track officials called an initial inspection for 7.30am and although they found parts of the track to be unraceable, they were optimistic they would be able to give the card the go-ahead following a second check at 10am with temperatures set to rise.

Conditions did not improve sufficiently and officials were left with no option but to draw stumps.

However, the meeting has been saved and is now scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

READ MORE

The overnight declarations will stand and the race times remain the same, with the first race due to start at 12.35pm.

Irish Turf Club press officer Cliff Noone said: "The meeting has been postponed but the plan is now to move the card to Tuesday.

"The card itself remains the same and it will have the same start time as well."

Meetings at Kelso and Warwick have also been abandoned due to frozen tracks.

Temperatures at the Midlands venue got as low as minus four overnight and with conditions unlikely to improve sufficiently in time for racing, clerk of the course Andrew Morris has decided to call off proceedings.

"It was as low as minus four here overnight and it is only minus three this morning so we have had to abandon the meeting," said Morris.

"Parts of the track have not taken it very well and there are areas that we do not believe the frost will come out of in time."

Although parts of the course at Kelso are raceable, temperatures reached as low as minus three at the Scottish venue overnight.

Temperatures are set to rise in the next few hours but clerk of the course Anthea Morshead believes there is not enough time for conditions to improve and has been forced to draw stumps.

"Sadly we have been forced to abandon. We got down to minus three overnight and although the fresh ground we have on the inside is absolutely fine, as soon as you are on the ground previously raced on, it is not fit for racing," said Morshead.

"It is forecast to get up to plus four by 12pm but there are not enough hours for things to improve sufficiently.

"It's such a shame because it was such a good card and is our biggest day of the year, but it is one of those things."