‘Unsafe’ Chepstow lasts just two races after Plumpton falls to weather U-turn

Racing at Chepstow was abandoned after two races on Sunday, just hours after Plumpton’s Sussex National meeting was called off despite passing a morning inspection.

Following a Saturday without any jumps or afternoon action, a full programme of National Hunt racing looked set to take place on Sunday after fixtures at Chepstow, Plumpton and Naas were all initially given the go-ahead following morning checks. The team at Chepstow opted to take another look after an initial precautionary inspection at 7.30am and, with temperatures rising, the seven-race card passed a second inspection at 9am.

However, only two races would ultimately take place, with proceedings called off thereafter due to unsafe conditions. Clerk of the course Dai Jones told Sky Sports Racing: “We had an inquiry before the first race with all the jockeys, trainers, doctors and vets and all the horse group there were happy to carry on. Unfortunately, just after that we had a fair shower and with the thawing out and everything else, it’s just the amount of water that we’ve had in the last hour, the jockeys have come back and said that in a couple of places, they felt it was just a little bit too wet and unsafe.

“At the end of the day, the welfare of the jockeys and the welfare of the horses, that’s got to be paramount, irrespective of how much we want to race. When they come back and you see the jockeys, we’ve got to take it in hand and listen.”

He added: “The last thing anybody wants is to bring people here and then not carry through, if at any stage this morning we thought that it wasn’t safe, like we did with the first inspection, we pushed it on an hour and a half, we would act. So we feel for everybody, but at the time the decisions were made, they were the right decisions. Unfortunately, the rain came in afterwards and we’re in this position we’re in – we do feel sorry for everybody but safety comes first.”

Officials at Plumpton announced a precautionary inspection for 8.30am before one of the track’s most high-profile fixtures of the season due to the forecast of heavy rain overnight. While 25mm of rain fell, racing was initially given the green light. However, less than two hours later, the meeting was called off due to waterlogging.

Clerk of the course Marcus Waters said: “We were predicted five millimetres of rain between 8.30am and midday, which we thought we could handle, but we were already on 7.5 millimetres just before 10am. That much rain in a short space of time has left us with a few areas of false ground and we didn’t think it was safe anymore.

“We’re very disappointed. At 8.30am, we felt we had a good chance with the forecast how it was, but we got more rain than expected and it’s pushed us over the edge. It’s always a hard decision and it would have been the same whatever meeting it was. We have our processes and it was just unfortunate that it’s happened on a big day.”

Further interruptions to the racing programme appear certain in the coming days, with more snow and freezing temperatures forecast. On Monday, the jumps meeting at Ayr is subject to a precautionary inspection at 7am due to the threat of snow and temperatures as low as minus 2C. Officials at Ludlow will also inspect at 7am, with two inches of snow laying on the track on Sunday morning. Leicester’s Tuesday card has already been abandoned due to waterlogging.

National Hunt racing did at least get the go-ahead in Ireland at Naas, where Fun Fun Fun made an impressive start to her career over fences when leading home a one-two-three for Willie Mullins.

Fun Fun Fun ridden and jockey Patrick Mullins on their way to winning in Ireland at Naas. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Bred and ridden by the trainer’s son Patrick Mullins, the seven-year-old was a Grade Two bumper winner for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, and won at Listed and Grade Three level over hurdles. She was a 7-2 shot for her first outing over the larger obstacles and registered an emphatic seven-and-a-half-length success over stablemate Karia Des Blaises, with another Closutton inmate in Iris Emery back in third.