Weather woes

With frost and snow all over NW Europe now, there are major problems for racing this weekend in the UK and Ireland. Today´s two N.H. meetings are safe - Musselburgh has passed an inspection and there seem to be few problems at Newbury, while the other 3 meetings today are all on the all-weather. However tomorrow looks very bad, with Newcastle and Towcester in England and Fairyhouse in Ireland already called off.

Attempts are being made to find a new home for Newcastle´s important Fighting Fifth Hurdle, while the Fairyhouse meeting will now be staged next Thursday. It is hoped that Sunday´s big meeting at Fairyhouse, with 3 Grade One races, can be saved, while (touch wood!) Newbury tomorrow, with the Hennessy Gold Cup as the main feature, seems likely to be staged as scheduled.