Weather News: Today's three scheduled jumps fixtures, including the Coral Welsh National meeting at Chepstow, are all threatened by frost. Precautionary inspections will take place at 7.30 a.m. at Chepstow and Catterick, with Leicester checking an hour later.

Yesterday Chepstow clerk of the course Tim Long said: "We're perfectly raceable today but the forecast has changed quite significantly in that we will get some rain tonight but now with cold air coming in behind it. It's only prudent for us to take a look."

The going is described as soft.

Catterick general manager, Jonjo Sanderson, was optimistic any frost will come out of the ground to allow racing to go ahead. "We wouldn't have raced today, but it's thawing out," he said. "It's got reasonably warm and as I walked the track it was visibly thawing away, but there were one or two areas where the frost is a bit keener than the rest.

"It's been sunny and there's a bit of rain forecast later on which should hopefully clear away most of the frost that's going to be left in the ground. The precautionary inspection is merely to make sure all the frost we have in the ground has gone. Given the forecast, we are very hopeful that it will all go in time.

"The rest of the week is forecast to be even warmer and I'm very hopeful we will be able to race on Saturday as well."

Catterick's going is good to firm, good in places.

The going at Leicester is soft on the hurdle track, good, good to soft in places on the chase course, with frozen patches on both tracks. However, clerk of the course Jimmy Stevenson said: "It is an improving forecast as there is rain due from midnight to 3 a.m. in the morning, which is what we need as that is the best thing to get rid of frost. So if the forecast is correct, we've got a chance."

Today's other meeting is on the all-weather at Southwell, where no problems are reported.

Frost claimed the jumps meetings at Kempton, Wetherby and Huntingdon yesterday, with Scotland left to fly the flag at Ayr.