UK Guardian Horse Racing Tips and News

Sport: Horse racing | guardian.co.uk
Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2012
Articles published by guardian.co.uk Sport about: Horse racing

Paul Nicholls rates What A Friend a good bet at Newbury on Saturday

• Trainer has high hopes of Sir Alex Ferguson-owned runner
• Empire Levant is a lively Betfair Hurdle outsider

Paul Nicholls talked extensively on Monday about the horses he plans to run this weekend at Betfair's Super Saturday meeting and is expecting the Sir Alex Ferguson-owned What A Friend to run very well in the Denman Chase. Here are his thoughts on that runner and all his other hopes on the Newbury card.

What A Friend

He runs in the Denman Chase on Saturday. He was beaten a head in it last year with a 10lb penalty by Noland, and then ran an absolutely corking race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, only just failing to beat Kauto Star on the run-in, finishing fourth. The idea this year was to train him for two races, one being the Cheltenham Gold and the other is the Guinness Gold Cup at Punchestown in April.

The idea is to go for the Denman Chase, which he doesn't have a penalty for this year, and then go on to Cheltenham. We couldn't run him after [the John Smith's Hurdle at] Wetherby in October, which has probably worked in his favour as he goes well fresh. He's way more forward in his coat than he was this time last year, so I can see him running really well on Saturday.

He's 40-1 for the Gold Cup, and when you look at some of the horses in behind Long Run and Kauto Star, I think he's a massive each-way bet. If the ground's quick and dry like last year, he's a lively outsider.

Tidal Bay

He ran a really good race in the Argento [Chase at Cheltenham] the other day and stayed on really strongly. If I could get him jumping a bit better he'd be finishing a lot closer in his races.

I was going to go straight to the Gold Cup with him, and then go on to something like the Totesport Bowl at Aintree, but he came out of last week very fresh and well and worked nicely on Saturday, so we've stuck him in the Denman Chase on Saturday to see what's in it. We're not saving him now for anything so he might well run this weekend. He gets no penalty and the race should suit him.

Zarkandar

He is favourite for the Betfair Hurdle Saturday, unbeaten last year winning the Adonis, the Triumph and then at Aintree, and he's on a mark from the end of last season based on what he did last season. Whether he's well in or not, we'll know this weekend.

He did have a breathing operation in the summer, because he was always making a noise last year and I did say to the owners before the Adonis that if he didn't win that day, we'd put him away and do the breathing operation then so he'd be a novice this season. Of course, he won, so we carried on.

He had a bit of a setback earlier in the season, he was cast in his box which meant that I missed two or three weeks' work. I said to his owners that he wasn't going to be ready for Christmas, so we should give him one run and go for the Champion Hurdle, which has always been our target. So that's why he hasn't run, it was nothing major. He's done lots of work and had a racecourse gallop, but first and foremost, I haven't trained him just for Saturday. That is his prep race for the Champion Hurdle, and that is when I want him at his very best, for obvious reasons.

He could have a nice handicap mark on Saturday, it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to win, he could win a blinder and improve. Look at Long Run last year, he was beaten in the Paddy Power off 158 and then won the King George on his next start. Because they're well in, it doesn't always mean that they're certainties.

A race like this is going to be competitive, and it's obviously a bit of a disadvantage that he's not had a run since April, so whatever he does on Saturday, he will improve. I pray to God it's on, as it would give us a headache as to what to do with him [if Newbury is called off], as I do need to give him a run before Cheltenham.

Brampour

He runs on Saturday in the Betfair Hurdle, he'll have top weight so it will be quite handy to have Harry [Derham] taking 7lb off him. He stops the weights going up a bit, so people seem to think I'm keeping him in to keep the weights right for [my] others, but it probably suits everybody else really.

I need to give him a run before the Champion Hurdle and it's perfect to run him in this with 7lb off him. He was only beaten four lengths by Grandouet in the International Hurdle, and he could run a really nice race on Saturday and pick up some crumbs in fourth or fifth.

He's done nothing but improve this year, he's had a break since Christmas and after Saturday, he'll go to the Champion Hurdle with Harry keeping the ride. Later on, I'd look at something like the Scottish Champion, and he'll hopefully improve again over the summer and contest all the good hurdle races next year.

Empire Levant

He's a big, scopey, rangey horse and I'm looking forward to him jumping fences next year. I still think he needs another summer, but he's done nothing wrong this year. He won first time up at Newbury when he had a really nice handicap mark. He absolutely hosed in, then we ran him again two days later and he was second to Rock On Ruby with Rayo Star in third. Rayo Star then won The Ladbroke Hurdle [at Ascot] so that's good form.

He had a few little problems over Christmas, but the intention is to run on Saturday and he'll have 10st 4lb, which is a great weight for a handicap like that. Then he'll probably run in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham.

He loves Newbury, as he's shown in his two runs there. With soft ground and a good gallop, he's definitely not without a chance on Saturday. He's a really good outsider, a great each-way bet. He'll be a good chaser next year, but there's another good hurdle in him before that.

Dodging Bullets

He's got an entry on Saturday in the novice hurdle at Newbury, and he's also in at Taunton on Thursday and will run in one of those two races. He came from Ireland, did well on the Flat last summer and won his last two, and was quite impressive.

He's taken a little while to come to himself, but he goes nicely enough at home and we're very much looking forward to running him. I need to get a run into him and then decide what we're going to do with him later in the season.

Silviniaco Conti

He's entered in the three-mile chase at Newbury but that doesn't mean he's going to run as he's got other options. He could go for the Reynoldstown Chase [at Ascot] or the Pendil or a race at Fontwell. We haven't decided for definite if he's going to run at Cheltenham, he's in the 2½-mile [novice chase] and also the three-mile [novice chase]. He ran an absolute blinder in the Feltham [Novice Chase] at Christmas, where he beat Bobs Worth. I still don't know why Bobs Worth is a shorter price than he is [for the RSA Chase at Cheltenham next month], because he beat him fair and square.

He jumps really well and he's improving, he's strengthening up all the time but I still see him as next year's horse, hence I don't really want to do the wrong thing. I want to mind him a little bit, and if we don't go to Cheltenham we'll go to Aintree and then we'll be looking after him because next year I can see him contesting all the top three-mile races.

If Grands Crus runs on Saturday, I don't see any reason to take him on at this stage, so we might go elsewhere, but I'm sure he's going to do really well as a chaser.

Join Together

He's done really well this year and won at Cheltenham both times that he's been there. He's in the RSA Chase [next month] and he's entered on Saturday at Newbury as well, again with an alternative in the Reynoldstown at Ascot the following week.

There is also a nice race at Fontwell in a few weeks' time that I won with Star De Mohaison en route to [winning] the RSA. Again, all options are open with him and I don't want to give him that hard a race before Cheltenham. He goes well fresh, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if he went straight there. A big galloping track like Newbury would suit him really well, and Denman won the same race en route to the RSA, but we'll just see what the opposition is and weigh it all up and see what we're going to do.

He was particularly impressive last time, and I'm hoping he will progress to run in the Hennessy and the top chases next year. He's a typical [son of] Old Vic, who will just get stronger as he gets older.

Hold Fast

He's got an entry for the Champion Chase and also the Grand Annual Chase at Cheltenham. He's in the Betfair Super Saturday Chase [formerly the Game Spirit], which looks like being a hot race, but he won very nicely at Sandown last time.

We thought we'd run him at Newbury which will tell us whether he's good enough for the Champion Chase in which he might hopefully get a place. Master Minded took that same route, from Sandown to the Game Spirit and then the Champion Chase. I'm not saying he's Master Minded or anything like that, but Saturday will tell us where we go at Cheltenham, if it's the Grand Annual or to be a lively outsider for the Champion Chase.

Ruby keeps telling me that he needs to go right handed, but then he used to keep saying that about Master Minded as well. I suspect he'll end up in a handicap at Cheltenham, but bar the top two or three in the Champion Chase, it's looking fairly open.

Paul Nicholls selects Ruby Walsh to ride Zarkandar at Newbury

• Jockey free to ride Champion Hurdle hope on Super Saturday
• Course is under covers in attempt to beat the weather

The inaugural Betfair Super Saturday meeting at Newbury this weekend, which already has Long Run, Grands Crus and Zarkandar among its likely runners, acquired an unexpected fresh attraction on Monday when the Scilly Isles Novice Chase, which was due to take place at Sandown last weekend, was added to the card. The inclusion of a Grade One race also means that Ruby Walsh, who was due to begin a three-day suspension on Saturday, will be able to ride Zarkandar, the hot favourite for the trainer Paul Nicholls, in the Betfair Hurdle.

Whether any horses will get the chance to compete at Newbury this weekend is still open to doubt, however, as the richest British card before the Cheltenham Festival meeting in March could still succumb to the weather if temperatures drop significantly later in the week.

Walsh was confirmed as the rider of Zarkandar within a couple of hours of the news that he would be able to ride at Saturday's meeting. Daryl Jacob, who will expect to ride Zarkandar in his next race, the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham next month, when Walsh will ride the favourite Hurricane Fly, switches to another of Nicholls' runners, Empire Levant.

Newbury racecourse was free of snow on Monday afternoon and the track has been under covers for nearly a week. Overnight temperatures are expected to remain below freezing until the weekend, however, and a heavy frost on Friday night could yet threaten a card that also includes the Denman [formerly Aon] Chase and the Betfair Super Saturday Chase [formerly the Game Spirit].

"As far as the forecast is concerned, there's very much an east-west divide," Richard Osgood, Newbury's clerk of the course, said at Nicholls' yard . "I don't think it will be as cold as it was last week where we were hitting -7C [19F] and -8C overnight. But then I'm afraid it's changing day by day and it's just a case of seeing what comes and how we get away with it.

"We haven't used the chase course since the Hennessy meeting [in November] and the hurdles course is completely fresh. At the moment the ground underneath is good-to-soft, soft in places, and since last Friday with snow and rain we've had nearly 11mm [of moisture]. That will be soaking through the covers nicely [and] the plan at the moment will be to leave the covers down until Saturday and then lift them as late as possible."

Zarkandar, last year's Triumph Hurdle winner, is generally the 7-1 third-favourite for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham next month, and Nicholls said here that he expects the five-year-old to improve both physically and mentally for Saturday's race.

"He's done lots of work and I'm very happy with him," Nicholls said, "but first and foremost I haven't trained him just for Saturday. It's his prep race for the Champion Hurdle and that's the race when I want him at his very best for obvious reasons. I've done all I can with him and he's schooling great but win, lose or draw, he's going to come on a ton for the run. At home you'd never say "wow" [when he works] – Brampour [who will carry top weight in the Betfair Hurdle] would murder him at home every day – but he's one of those that are better on the track."

Nicholls believes that Empire Levant, his third runner in Saturday's race, could be the pick of his team at the current prices, and suggests that the grey, who was a six-length second to his stablemate Rock On Ruby last time out, has a solid chance at around 16-1. "He's got a great weight on Saturday, he loves Newbury and he's a really good each-way bet," Nicholls said.

Tuesday's jumps meetings at Market Rasen and Sedgefield were abandoned on Monday and prospects for turf racing are not good for Wednesday. Lingfield has already been called off and Ludlow and Carlisle are to inspect on Tuesday.

Freeze continues to mean bleak outlook for turf jumps meetings

• Tuesday cards are abandoned as frost takes hold
• Carlisle will have early inspection for Wednesday card

The cold weather continues to have a significant impact on the racing fixture list and both Tuesday's jumps cards were abandoned on Monday morning. Carlisle and Ludlow, the only National Hunt meetings left on Wednesday following Lingfield's abandonment, will both look at their tracks on Tuesday at 8am.

Looking ahead to Saturday and Newbury's important Betfair Super Saturday meeting, clerk of the course Richard Osgood was being cautiously optimistic. He said: "There is an east-west divide in the forecast but I don't think it will be as cold as it was last week. But that changes from day to day."

In order to try and help ensure National Hunt race meetings take place later in the week the British Horseracing Authority are inviting courses to submit applications to stage a jumps fixture on Saturday if they are confident of beating the weather. The BHA have also stated that if Kempton's turf meeting on Friday is abandoned a card of National Hunt Flat races will take place on the all-weather surface.

Meanwhile, Monday's fixture at Ayr could prove to be the final jumps card to be run for a few days. A 2pm check on Monday proved inconclusive at Carlisle as a thaw is taking place but conditions will reportedly need to improve dramatically.

Acting clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said: "Things are improving, it is just a question of whether they are improving fast enough. You'd be a brave man to call it off at this stage, but at the same time you'd be a brave man to say it will go ahead looking at the forecast.

"We're forecast minus 2C for tonight and it could be colder still on Tuesday night, so we'll just have to see. We'll take it one step at a time."

The Ludlow clerk of the course, Bob Davies, said there was snow on top of the frozen track on Monday afternoon and described conditions at that point as "unraceable".

"We're not raceable today and realistically we need an improved forecast," said Davies. "We have got a light covering of snow, it's not all over the track, but we have patches of frost which are two inches into the ground.

"We need temperatures to stay above freezing continuously really. They weren't talking about a frost last night but we had one and they're saying it should be zero tonight but I think it's more likely to drop lower. The forecast suggests there could be a possibility of minus 4C on Tuesday night and I think that on cold ground would be enough to stop us racing."

Lingfield's meeting scheduled for Wednesday as well as Sedgefield and Market Rasen, which were due to race on Tuesday, were all abandoned due to frozen tracks.

Lingfield clerk of the course, Neil Mackenzie Ross, said: "The course is still under snow and it is frozen underneath. Temperatures are forecast to dip below freezing again tonight, with an even harsher frost coming Tuesday night, with temperatures possibly getting down to minus 7C. It will barely get above freezing on Wednesday, so we have no chance of racing and we've made an early decision."

At Sedgefield clerk of the course, Phil Tuck, called an inspection for 12.30pm on Monday but he brought that forward after another cold night. He said: "We brought forward the inspection as there's no prospect of a thaw. We fell below freezing again last night and are forecast minus temperatures again tonight, so there's no chance of us racing and we have abandoned."

Officials at Market Rasen called an 8am inspection on Monday after temperatures dropped well below freezing over the weekend and the position at the Lincolnshire venue was then made much worse by substantial snowfall on Saturday.

Pip Kirkby, managing director at the track, said: "We have had to abandon. We are under snow, the track is frozen underneath and there is no sign of improvement. We are forecast freezing fog for the next two days and temperatures are not due to rise."

Tuesday tips

Ghostwing best bet of the day on the all-weather at Southwell

Southwell

1.15 Kingaroo 1.45 Dunaskin 2.15 Claretintheblood 2.45 Drawnfromthepast 3.15 Derivatives 3.45 Ghostwing 4.15 Holy Empress 4.45 Hunters Belt

Wolverhampton

2.00 Perlachy 2.30 Jericho 3.00 Mccool Bannanas 3.30 Macy Anne 4.00 Bold Adventure 4.30 Luctor Emergo

Talking Horses: The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog

The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog plus the start of a new week's tipping competition

Stat of the day, by Paul Jones

Fancy a horse for the Cheltenham Festival that has been put away since before Christmas? If so, you may want to think again as only Quevega has achieved this feat of any of the 54 winners over the last two seasons. That didn't halt punters from sending off the likes of Cue Card (Supreme), Time For Rupert (RSA), Sunnyhillboy (JLT Specialty Chase) and Poquelin (Ryanair) off favourite last season. Neither did it hinder punters supporting seven second-favourites in Menorah (Champion Hurdle), Alfa Beat (NH Chase), Aegean Dawn (Coral Cup), Divine Rhapsody (Champion Bumper), Barafundle (Pertemps Final), Aigle D'Or (Byrne Group Plate) and Imperial Commander (Gold Cup) last March. Horses to run during Christmas week and then put away until the Festival also only have an OK record at best. There were three such occurrences last season; Big Buck's, Chicago Grey, First Lieutenant, four if you extend it to New Year's Day for Junior. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions but I don't believe it would take Sherlock Holmes to work it out.

Paul Jones is author of the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Guide

Monday's best bets, by Greg Wood

British racing will stagger back into life today after yesterday's blank, with meetings at Ayr and Wolverhampton, where the competition races are the returns back into life. Today's competition races are the 3.40 and 4.15 on the relatively balmy west coast of Scotland, and the 5.00 at Wolverhampton, and the Guardian's selections include one at a double-figure price.

That one is at Ayr in the shape of North Brook (4.15), who is a bit of a grope in the dark, but then it's that sort of a race. He has little to find on ratings, having dropped 13lb since making his handicap debut off 103 last season, and was running well over course and distance last March when unseating at the third-last. He has a long absence to overcome, but then he also top-priced at 12-1, and arguably not quite as big on Betfair as he would be if completely unfancied.

Neptune Equester (3.40) is top weight for what is a competitive handicap chase despite the small field, and trying to bounce back from a disappointing run last time out. The cheekpieces go on for the first time, and he is also guaranteed to act on the ground and get every yard of what is, for him, a minimum trip. Posh Bird has been revived by a change of stables, but has yet to win off a mark this high.

Warden Bond (5.00) finally got off the mark at Wolverhampton last time, and possibly showed a little more than the margin of three-quarters of a length might suggest. He has every chance off just a 2lb higher mark.

Tipping competition - a new week

Congratulations to Dangalf, who hit all three all-weather winners on Friday to win with a final score of +30.50. He picked Maslak (12-1), Perlachy (11-2) and Daniel Thomas (3-1) and is plainly the man to have on your side when all the jump racing has been wiped out. His prize is the Top Trumps-style card game with chasers and hurdlers.

This week's prize is a copy of the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide, the annual labour of love by its author, Paul Jones, who will once more have packed it with stats, trends, opinion and insight on all 27 races at the Festival. It is a major enhancement to anyone's enjoyment of the meeting and will be published on 24 February. We'll get the winner's copy sent out as soon as it's available.

To kick things off, we'd like your tips, please, for these races: 3.40 Ayr, 4.15 Ayr, 5.00 Wolverhampton.

As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers.

In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day.

For terms and conditions click here.

Good luck!

Click here for all the day's racecards, form, stats and results.

And post your tips or racing-related comments below.

Life begins at forty for future of Grand National's unique appeal | Greg Wood

2012 entries are disappointingly low for Aintree's big race whose attraction is enhanced by a maximum field

This year's Grand National will have a record prize fund of £975,000, yet when the entries were published last week it attracted 86 names, the lowest figure for 16 years. Seven of those have yet to meet the new qualifying standard and the final field may dip below the maximum of 40 runners for the first time since 1999, which would be a shame for at least two reasons.

The first is the general one that, like the course, the obstacles, the trip and the tradition, a big field contributes to the National's unique appeal. Of course, the field has dropped below 30 in fairly recent memory and the National has survived but it is still hard to sell an event as the one that everyone in jumps racing wants to win if, on a regular basis, it does not fill.

It would be a particular frustration this year, because a field of 40 would make for a much more reliable comparison with last year's race, when overhead shots of dead and injured horses, Jason Maguire's use of the whip on Ballabriggs and the dousing of horses with buckets of water after crossing the line were widely viewed as a PR disaster.

If there really were thousands of once-a-year punters who were so appalled by the scenes at Aintree that they decided never to bet on the race again, the betting turnover on this year's race would, presumably, take a significant hit. And my strong suspicion is that, if 40 runners go to post in April, the effect of last year's race on this year's turnover will be ... none whatsoever.

The fact that Aintree has made some minor tweaks to the course and race conditions since last year is irrelevant. So, too, are the hopelessly misguided new whip rules which are a result, at least in part, of Maguire's winning ride (for which he got a five-day ban even under the old whip-rule regime).

For the great majority of the people who bet on the National it is their only point of contact with racing all year, and whatever has happened in between will have passed them by.

It remains a frustration that so many people see the National as being representative of all racing, because nothing could really be further from the truth. But then, there are probably a fair number of people who think that all bookies are like Peter Barlow too, which can't do much for the betting industry. It is just the way of the world.

The modern Grand National is as safe as it is ever likely to be in its familiar, 40-runner form but all the factors that make it unique also mean that the chance of a fatality in any given year – though odds-against – is still significantly higher than in any other major jumps race.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup has not lost a runner to a fatal fall since Gloria Victis in 2000. In the same time eight horses have been killed in the Grand National.

How many horses go to post for this year's National remains to be seen, though it is quite possible that the drop in entries is simply down to realism among owners and trainers about the chance of an average horse getting a run in the race.

But if one or more of the runners fail to return, what must be avoided is any leap to the conclusion, by either the racecourse or the British Horseracing Authority, that "something must be done" to respond to public concern, particularly if, like the whip rules, that Aintree-related "something" is going to be foisted on the rest of the programme as well.

Despite the low initial entry, there is still every chance that a full field will go to post on 14 April. If betting turnover holds up too, it will be a more telling reflection of the general public's attitude to the National than any vox pop or internet poll in the aftermath of last year's race. It will suggest that they are willing to accept the Grand National for what it is. It will also raise the question as to why both Aintree and the British Horseracing Authority seem to find it so hard to do the same.

Sizing Europe's Punchestown success enhances Cheltenham claims

• Reigning two-mile champion beats Big Zeb by 15 lengths
• 'Sizing Europe was amazing,' says Henry de Bromhead

Sizing Europe is as short as even money to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham for the second year running next month after an easy victory against Big Zeb, the 2010 Champion Chase winner, in the Tied Cottage Chase here on Sunday.

The current and former two-mile champions were separated by only a pound according to official ratings before Sunday's race on heavy ground but Sizing Europe was clearly going best from a long way out and drew clear in the straight to win by 15 lengths.

Sizing Europe had not run since his win in the Grade One Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in December and can be expected to improve for Sunday's run. Little improvement may be necessary, however, as Big Zeb was the second-favourite for the Champion Chase prior to the Tied Cottage, and even on better ground at the Festival, it is difficult to see the 11-year-old reversing the form.

Big Zeb was the favourite for the Tied Cottage on Sunday morning but money arrived for Sizing Europe throughout the day and he set off as the market leader at 9-10. Imperial Shabra, the only other runner in the race and a 66-1 outsider, led in the early stages but Andrew Lynch, on Sizing Europe, soon took up the running and looked more comfortable than his main rival from that point.

"I told [Andrew] to go out and enjoy it and use his stride and his jumping and that's what he did," Henry de Bromhead, Sizing Europe's trainer, said. "That's how he needs to race if he's to win. We said we'd make it a good gallop and see how we go. That's as impressive as he's ever looked on that ground. He was amazing today, though I think Robbie [Power, on Big Zeb] sat up when he realised he was beaten so it was probably exaggerated."

Big Zeb is now top-priced at 7-1 for the Champion Chase, alongside Finian's Rainbow, from the Nicky Henderson yard. The best price about Sizing Europe is 6-4 with Ladbrokes and Hills.

"Robbie was never happy with him today," Colm Murphy, Big Zeb's trainer, said. "He said he was always niggling just to keep in touch. In fairness, the winner was very good, he's gone a proper gallop on heavy ground. We'll improve for the run, but we'll have to."

Sizing Europe is the second reigning Cheltenham champion in a week to show that he will be difficult to beat at this year's Festival, following an outstanding return to action by Hurricane Fly, the Champion Hurdle winner, in last Sunday's Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.

Trifolium, the 7-4 favourite, showed a good burst of speed to finish nine lengths clear of the runner-up in Sunday's Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle and is 16-1 (from 50-1) with Paddy Power for the Supreme Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham next month, while Scotsirish, who took the PP Hogan Memorial Chase over the Banks course on the same card is 5-2 (from 3-1) for the Festival's' Cross Country race with the same firm.Punchestown was the only race meeting in Britain and Ireland to survive the weather on Sunday, but Monday's scheduled meeting at Ayr is expected to go ahead with no inspection planned. Wolverhampton, which was forced to abandon its card on Saturday with four races still to run, will inspect at 6.30am on Monday ahead of its afternoon card. Carlisle will inspect today for its meeting on Wednesday, but the course is frozen and prospects look bleak.

British racing, including 'all-weather' card, wiped out by freeze-up

• Musselburgh and Kempton join Sunday abandonments
• Threat to Wolverhampton's Monday card, but Ayr hopeful

There will be no racing in Britain on Sunday after both the surviving meetings, at Musselburgh and on an artificial surface at Kempton, were abandoned due to frost and snow respectively, while Monday's scheduled meeting at Wolverhampton, which also races on Polytrack, will be subject to a precautionary inspection at 6.30am.

The card at Wolverhampton on Saturday was abandoned with four races still to run as snow was starting to build up on the track, and the card at Kempton on Sunday – which was added to the programme by the British Horseracing Authority in an attempt to bolster betting turnover – succumbed to 6cm of overnight snowfall.

"The machines we wanted to use this morning kept clogging up, and in the timeframe we had, with it being an afternoon meeting, it would be too big a gamble," Brian Clifford, Kempton's clerk of the course, said. "It's not just the track, the general areas and infrastructure wouldn't be clear in time."

National Hunt racing seems likely to resume on Monday, however, with Ayr reporting no problems ahead of a seven-race card, which is due to begin at 1.30pm.

"It was 2C overnight and warmer temperatures have moved in," Emma Marley, the clerk of the course, said on Sunday. "I think the weather on the west coast is betting than anywhere else in the UK.

"It was 7C yesterday which helped massively with the thaw and we are perfectly raceable now. It will be 3C tonight and is due to be dry with sunny spells tomorrow. We have no inspection planned."

The meeting at Carlisle on Wednesday is already in doubt, with the track reported to be frozen. An inspection will held at 2pm on Monday.

"The problem really is frost rather than snow," Kirkland Tellwright, the clerk of the course, said. "There have been two very keen frosts which has got right into the ground. If it's no better by 2pm tomorrow then we'll have a good idea."

Talking Horses | Chris Cook

The latest on the Big Zeb and Sizing Europe showdown along with the best bets in our daily racing blog

Sizing Europe conquers Big Zeb at Punchestown

3.15pm: The current champion chaser Sizing Europe defeated former champion Big Zeb in the Boylesports.com Tied Cottage Chase at Punchestown on Sunday.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained 10-year-old dismissed Colm Murphy's 2010 Queen Mother winner with relative ease in what turned into a straight shootout in the Grade Two heat.

Andrew Lynch adopted positive tactics on Sizing Europe and took over from the big outsider Imperial Shabra on jumping the first fence, after which he was never headed.

Big Zeb loomed up, looking briefly threatening between the final two fences, before Lynch kicked clear. Murphy's charge had no answer to the 9-10 favourite, who ran out a 15-length winner. Press Association

Trifolium shows Punchestown promise

2.40pm Greg Wood writes from Punchestown: Trifolium showed an impressive turn of foot from before the final turn on the way to an easy win in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle here, and is 16-1 (from 50-1) with Paddy Power for the Supreme Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham next month.

The 7-4 favourite was always travelling smoothly for Davy Russell despite the difficult conditions, and quickly drew nine lengths clear of Simenon, who has been placed in Group Three company on the Flat.

Earlier on the card, the first race resulted in a dead heat as Allure of Illusion, who started at 1-5, was joined on the line by King Vuvuzela, a 13-2 chance. Allure Of Illusion is 33-1 (from 25-1) with Paddy Power for the Supreme.

Today's best bets, by Chris Cook

So the cold snap has claimed all of Sunday's racing in Britain, which is to say both of the cards at Musselburgh and Kempton. The course was still frozen in places at the Scottish track, which is not very surprising, but Kempton was supposed to be staging "all-weather" racing, a term which has once more proved horribly inaccurate.

Six centimetres of snow did the damage at the south London track and some may be tempted to see this as punishment for the hubris of the British Horseracing Authority in attempting to "beat" the cold weather. The fixtures at Kempton on Sunday and Wolverhampton on Saturday were hastily arranged in order that we should still have something to bet on, but both were themselves beaten by the elements, though the Midlands track managed to stage a whole four races before succumbing.

It seems that the Gods will relent enough to allow us a card of jump racing on Monday at Ayr, where the course is raceable and there is not even an inspection planned because overnight temperatures are forecast to stay above 0C. In the meantime, we have a decent card at Punchestown to tide us over.

Big Zeb (2.55) and Sizing Europe meet in the Tied Cottage but the clash is rather undercut by the fact that there is only one other runner (available at 89-1 on Betfair) and punters have to bear in mind that connections of the big two are thinking of bigger prizes to come. On today's heavy ground, the priority will be to ensure that neither horse leaves the rest of their season behind in pursuit of a Grade Two.

Sizing Europe has won on heavy, including a couple of races here in his novice season, but he is a better horse on a sounder surface. Big Zeb seems the more likely of the two to keep rolling through the mud and he won a Grade One last season on heavy.

Both were beaten by Golden Silver on soft ground in this race last season but Big Zeb was seven lengths ahead of Sizing Europe and, even at 5-6, he is fairly priced to do something similar today. His two wins this winter suggest this 11-year-old is not yet losing his ability.

There are candidates for the Cheltenham Festival in the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle earlier on the card, when 3-1 takes my eye about Simenon (1.50) for the hard-to-beat combination of Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh. Third in the November Handicap a couple of years back, he bolted up on heavy going at Cork last month and is preferred to Trifolium, who chased home So Young at Navan last time.

The cross-country race at 3.55pm has often been a good guide to the equivalent race at the Festival, though that may not be so this year as the going will surely be a lot less glutinous at Cheltenham. Nothing will convince me that Scotsirish would not have won at Cheltenham in December, but for being carried out of the race with the rest of the leading bunch on the final bend, but odds of 1-2 are barmy and this is a race I can happily watch without an interest.

Freeze puts Nicky Henderson's Cheltenham Festival strategy on ice

• Trainer running out of options after Ffos Las is abandoned
• Runs for top-class Oscar Whisky and Binocular thwarted

The cold snap which wiped out jump racing on Saturday has caused a particular problem for Nicky Henderson, who is now casting around for suitable races in which to prepare his impressive collection of top-class hurdlers for the Cheltenham Festival in March. Oscar Whisky and Binocular were both due to run on Saturday and the trainer can see no ready alternative for the races lost.

"The plan was easy," Henderson said. "Grandouet would go for the Kingwell at Wincanton [on 18 February], Binocular would go to Sandown and Oscar Whisky had the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos Las." But Sandown's card on Saturday was called off a full day in advance after the course was found to be frozen and the situation at Ffos Las was judged to be similarly hopeless before 8am on Saturday.

Both Grandouet and Binocular are being aimed at the Festival's Champion Hurdle and Henderson is keen that they should not take each other on before then. "I've got to move all the pieces around again," he said. "There is talk of restaging the Welsh Champion Hurdle but if they did, the horse who should really go for that is Binocular.

"Oscar Whisky doesn't have to run again," Henderson said of the horse whose main target is a clash with Big Buck's in the Festival's World Hurdle, "but if he did, I would quite like it to be in a longer race." He named Fontwell's National Spirit on 26 February as an option.

The focus for Binocular appears to be narrowing to the Red Mills at Gowran Park in Ireland on 18 February and the Morebattle at Kelso on the 15th. While the trainer would rather avoid a trip to Ireland at this stage of the season, he had an unhappy experience of the Morebattle in 2010 when Zaynar was beaten on desperate going at odds of 1-14, and he stressed that the going would have to be better than it was that day if Binocular is to line up.

Henderson's options were reduced when Tim Long, the clerk of the course at Ffos Las, indicated that the Welsh Champion Hurdle would probably not be restaged. "We don't really have a suitable fixture for the race now," he said, adding that an existing sponsorship for the course's fixture on 19 February would probably prevent the race being added to that card.

Long had been hopeful that Saturday's card would go ahead until his team began to remove the frost covers, at which point the exposed turf began to freeze. Briefly, he considered holding the fixture over to Sunday, "but we weren't sure we could get sufficient stewards, doctors and vets together to stage a safe meeting.

"This was a flagship day for us. Everyone imagines you can still collect on the insurance but nobody insures a race meeting because no insurer will touch you."

There has been no jump racing in Britain since Wednesday and hopes for Sunday rest on a 7am inspection at Musselburgh, Fontwell's officials having called off their fixture at lunchtime. A "slight frost" was expected overnight at Punchestown, due to stage Sunday's Tied Cottage Chase, in which Big Zeb and Sizing Europe take each other on.

John Maxse, a spokesman for the British Horseracing Authority, said the regulator's priority at this stage of the cold snap was "to minimise the economic impact on the sport by making sure there are sufficient all-weather meetings to keep the show going. The longer it goes on, you have to start thinking about missed opportunities for horses as well."

But "all-weather" can prove an unjustifiably optimistic term and Saturday's card at Wolverhampton, hastily arranged in response to the freeze, was abandoned after four races because of heavy snow on the artificial circuit. Kempton's extra fixture on Sunday is vulnerable for the same reason.

Maxse said the run of abandonments may be short. "The forecast snow should bring warmer weather in its wake, which would give you hope for the fixtures from midweek but we need more information about what follows that.

"If you get a 10-day blight on the sport, you have to start being more radical in terms of identifying alternative solutions to make up for those missed opportunities. I'm not saying yet what those might be, it's too early to speculate.

"This could have come at a worse time. There's still enough time to get another run into horses before Cheltenham."

Talking horses | Chris Cook

The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog

If Ffos Las should prove able to stage the first jump racing in Britain since Wednesday [see update below], conditions will surely prove extremely testing, since the going was already heavy and will be heavier once frost has melted into it. The West Wales National may therefore turn into an unattractive slog but Rey Nacarado has as good a chance of coping as any.

The seven-year-old, whose name is Spanish for pearly king, slogged through the mud to win the Mandarin at Newbury on New Year's Eve but, even on his new mark, he gets in here below 11st. On his previous outing, he was outbattled only by Giles Cross, who then put up a sensational front-running display in the Welsh National itself before tiring into second.

From the in-form yard of Charlie Longsdon (four winners from his last 10 runners), Rey Nacarado (3.20) may have too much quality for Our Island, who could nonetheless cope better than when a distant sixth in the Chepstow equivalent. Mohayer should also handle the conditions well but proved little with his most recent victory here in December.

Ffos Las 2.10 Dai Walters, owner of both the racecourse and Oscar Whisky, doesn't just want to win the Welsh Champion Hurdle. His other runners on the card include Mountainous, who is unbeaten in two handicaps, both on very soggy ground at this course.

Lingfield 2.30 Having failed to win since he was a juvenile, Diamond Vine has hit form with his last two starts over this course and distance and can make it two wins in a row despite a 3lb rise.

Ffos Las 2.45 As with last year's race, Oscar Whisky looks about a stone ahead of all his rivals. Outside the Cheltenham Festival, his only defeat came when he fell at Ascot and the hurdles are probably the biggest danger.

Lingfield 3.00 Blinkers have produced serious improvement in Prince Of Burma, who seems well up to the hat-trick after pulling two and a half lengths clear on his most recent run.

Lingfield 3.35 So long as Status Symbol sets the decent pace that he needs, Art Scholar is up to defying the extra 6lb he earned when winning at Kempton last time. Exemplary's recent win came in a claimer for which he was sent off at 2-7, whereas this will be much harder.

Update

Unfortunately, Saturday will be Britain's third consecutive day without jump racing, officials at Ffos Las having abandoned the Welsh Champion Hurdle card shortly before 8am. Other race-meetings at Sandown and Wetherby had been called off a full day in advance.

A 9am inspection had been arranged at Ffos Las but the clerk of the course, Tim Long, said there had been no need to wait that long before making his decision. "We got down to -1C overnight and it is zero at the moment, but there is a fierce wind chill and we are actually freezing now.

For the full story, click here.

Weather forces abandonment at Ffos Las as big freeze stops jump racing

• No jump racing for third consecutive day in Britain
• Sunday inspections due at Fontwell and Musselburgh

Saturday will be Britain's third consecutive day without jump racing, officials at Ffos Las having abandoned the Welsh Champion Hurdle card shortly before 8am. Other race meetings at Sandown and Wetherby had been called off a full day in advance.

A 9am inspection had been arranged at Ffos Las but the clerk of the course, Tim Long, said there had been no need to wait that long before making his decision. "We got down to -1C overnight and it is zero at the moment, but there is a fierce wind chill and we are actually freezing now.

"Temperatures are forecast to creep up, but only by a degree or two and it won't be enough. On Thursday night, temperatures got down to -6C and that is what has really done the damage. We're absolutely devastated as the team has worked incredibly hard."

The British Horseracing Authority clarified on Saturday morning that there would be no objection to Ffos Las staging the card on Sunday, but Long said this was "not possible logistically".

All-weather cards are scheduled to take place on Saturday at Lingfield and Wolverhampton, while there is still the possibility of jump racing in Ireland at Fairyhouse. The track there remained unraceable when inspected at 8am but temperatures were rising and a final decision has been postponed until 10.30am.

Prospects are not good for a resumption of jump racing in Britain this weekend. Both Fontwell and Musselburgh, which have fixtures on Sunday, are frozen in places, though overnight temperatures did not drop below -1C at the Scottish course. Fontwell will be inspected at 12.30pm on Saturday, Musselburgh at 7am on Sunday.

About a third of the circuit is frozen at Ayr, the only track where jump racing is arranged for Monday, but officials say they are "confident" of racing if the forecast is correct. The local temperature was 6C at 8am on Saturday and is not supposed to drop below freezing this weekend.

Hopes are also said to be high at Punchestown, due to stage quite a valuable card on Sunday, with Big Zeb and Sizing Europe lined up against each other in the Tied Cottage Chase. A "slight frost" is expected for Saturday night but covers have been in place since Tuesday.

Heads Up: Archie Rice can prove a value bet at Wolverhampton at 11-2

Our new column, aimed at finding the best value Saturday bets, has a selection at the Midlands track

Coral have taken a position about the nine-furlong handicap at Wolverhampton on Saturday, going joint-shortest at 11-4 about Son Vida and offering 11-2 for those who fancy Archie Rice (3.15), while most firms who have priced up the race so far go no bigger than 4s. You can see why any bookie would want to treat such a horse with caution, with so many 1s next to his name in the racecard.

Archie Rice, named after playwright John Osborne's central character in The Entertainer, has won four of his last five and it seems significant that all four wins came here, whereas his sole defeat, when he was absolutely stuffed, came at Lingfield. Still, he has been consistently good on Polytrack generally, winning six of his last 14 and being placed in four of the others.

He is just 4lb higher than for his latest success a fortnight ago, over this course and distance and with today's capable claimer, Ryan Clark, in the saddle. Even with a couple of other last-time-out winners in opposition, 11-2 seems the wrong price.

Son Vida won comfortably on his only start so far but that was more than a year ago and on Southwell's very different Fibresand. The runner-up took 13 attempts to get off the mark while the other four horses behind Son Vida remain maidens.

Aquarian Spirit seems a more lively threat after two battling wins at Lingfield and he is unbeaten on Polytrack.

It is hard to get excited about the early prices from Ffos Las, not least because the card is 1-3 to be abandoned according to traders on Betfair. Rey Nacarado is 5-1 for the West Wales National but there are a number of alternatives likely to attract support and he could easily start at bigger odds. Oscar Whisky is 4-11 for a second victory in the Welsh Champion Hurdle, which is bigger than I would care to offer myself, though hardly irresistible.

Cheltenham Festival Champion Hurdle hope Binocular has new options

• Sandown abandonment forces 2010 winner into switch
• Kelso and Wincanton the choices for Nicky Henderson

Binocular, the 2010 Champion Hurdle winner, will travel either north or west in the next two weeks in search of a prep run for this year's Cheltenham Festival, as the British Horseracing Authority will not sanction a replacement race for the Contenders Hurdle, which was due to be run at frostbound Sandown on Saturday.

Binocular has won the Sandown race for the last two seasons, but Nicky Henderson, his trainer, must now choose between the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso on 15 February and the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton three days later. Henderson must also consider the need to give Grandouet, another leading Champion Hurdle candidate from his yard, a race before the Festival, and he will try to keep them apart if possible. As a result, the Red Mills Trial at Gowran Park in Ireland, which also takes place on 18 February, could also enter the reckoning.

"There is no decision about where he'll be going," Frank Berry, racing manager to JP McManus, the owner of Binocular, said on Friday. "Those are the options, though he'd be very unlikely to come over to Gowran. We'd love to get a run into him [before Cheltenham]."

The BHA decided not to schedule an alternative event over the next 10 days due the number of options available in the UK.

"Having weighed up the suggestion that a similar race be scheduled, the BHA racing department have decided in the circumstances it is not warranted," John Maxse, the BHA's spokesman, said.

"The priority remains managing the immediate situation regarding the threat posed by the weather to the racing programme and the scheduling of the meetings that survive. The question of whether any other races, such as the Scilly Isles Chase [at Sandown], could be restaged will be addressed in due course."

Saturday's prospects for National Hunt racing depend on Ffos Las in south Wales, which is due to stage the Welsh Champion Hurdle, after both Sandown and Wetherby were abandoned on Friday.

Dai Walters, the owner both of Ffos Las and also Oscar Whisky, who will be a short-priced favourite for the feature event if the meeting survives the cold, said on Friday that he feels the chances are "60-40 in our favour" with a warm front currently approaching from the west.

"The temperature is rising now and if a bit of cloud comes in, we can take the [frost] sheets off in the morning [before a 9am inspection] fingers crossed," Walters said. "We haven't got another Saturday, which is the worry. We might think about moving it to Newbury next Saturday."

Oscar Whisky's next scheduled race after the Welsh Champion Hurdle is a meeting with Big Buck's, who will be attempting to equal the National Hunt record of 16 straight wins, in the World Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

"He'll definitely take on Big Buck's next, and I hope he beats him," Walters said. "Big Buck's hasn't had much quality up against him for a long time, people have been going elsewhere and been afraid of him. Don't get me wrong, he's a wonderful horse, but fingers crossed, and 15 March will tell us anyhow. I think the secret is to take him on early."

The imminent warm front moving from the west is also cause for optimism at Fairyhouse, where there will be an inspection at 8am ahead of the meeting later in the day. The track was unraceable on Friday afternoon, however, after several nights of heavy frost.

Punchestown has had frost covers in place since last Tuesday ahead of Sunday's valuable card, which features the Tied Cottage Chase and the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, both over two miles. Just one opponent has been declared against Big Zeb and Sizing Europe, who have won the last two running of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, with Big Zeb currently favourite at a top price of 4-6 versus Sizing Europe on 11-8.

Saturday tips

Pat's Legacy one to watch out for on the all-weather at Wolverhampton

Ffos Las

1.35 The Tracey Shuffle 2.10 Mountainous 2.45 Oscar Whisky 3.20 Rey Nacarado (nap) 3.50 Teaforthree 4.20 Super Villan 4.50 Seranwen

Lingfield

12.55 Monadreen Dancer 1.25 Twinkled 2.00 Efistorm 2.30 Diamond Vine 3.00 Prince Of Burma 3.35 Art Scholar 4.05 Falcon's Reign 4.35 Roxelana

Wolverhampton

2.05 Kyncraighe 2.40 Pat's Legacy (nb) 3.15 Archie Rice 3.45 Mount Abora 4.15 La Estrella 4.45 Place That Face 5.15 Excuse Me

Powered by FirstRSS Plugin