ABANDONED
Meeting: New Year's Day
Date: Tuesday, January 1,
2013
The New Year's Day
fixture, scheduled for Tuesday, January 1 at Cheltenham, has been abandoned
this morning.
Following a precautionary
inspection at 10am on Sunday when parts of the course were found to be
unraceable, another inspection was scheduled for 3pm today Monday, December 31.
But, after overnight rain
and the onset of more rain this morning, racing on New Year's Day at Cheltenham
Racecourse has been abandoned.
Anyone who has booked
tickets, dining or hospitality in advance will receive a full refund.
Simon Claisse, the Clerk
of the Course, commented this morning: "We have had further rain
overnight, it is raining now and more is forecast. The course is waterlogged in
too many places for racing to go ahead tomorrow.
"So, very sadly, we
have lost a raceday for the first time since December, 2008. We have been in
talks with the British Horseracing Authority about whether the Grade Two
Cheltenham Pony Club Raceday Novices' Chase can take place anywhere else."
Cheltenham races next on
Festival Trials Day, Saturday, January 26, 2013. The gates open at 11am, with
the first of seven races due off at 12.40pm.
The Grade Two £100,000
Argento Chase, a trial for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup at The Festival, is
the feature race on a fantastic day's racing which also stages the Grade Two
£60,000 Rewards4Racing Cleeve Hurdle, the Grade Two £30,000 JCB Triumph Hurdle
Trial, the Grade Two £30,000 Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle and
the Grade Three £50,000 Murphy Group Handicap Chase.
Many of the horses that
run on Festival Trials Day are having their final start before The Festival and
it is rare that this fixture does not feature at least one subsequent Festival
winner.
Big Buck's kept up that
record in 2012, winning the Rewards4Racing Cleeve Hurdle before a
record-breaking fourth consecutive Ladbrokes World Hurdle victory in March.
This is a great opportunity to see some of Jump racing's superstars and after
racing there is another Brightwells Bloodstock Sale.
The Festival happens from
Tuesday, March 12 to Friday, March 15 and is the embodiment of everything that
is great about Cheltenham.
Ticket, dining and
hospitality for Festival Trials Day and The Festival can be booked online at www.cheltenham.co.uk or by phoning 0844 579
3003 (tickets) or 01242 807 431(hospitality).
Twitter: @CheltenhamRaces
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehomeofjumpracing
No comments:
Post a Comment