SANDOWN chiefs are hopeful Saturday’s Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle card will get the green light.
After fearing the worst with snow, ice and sleet forecast in the run-up to the meeting, things now look more promising.
With meetings abandoned across the country due to snow and waterlogging – including Cheltenham’s major New Year’s Day meeting – it will likely be a welcome tonic to punters.
Sandown have taken no chances in the build-up to Saturday, with the on course team deploying frost sheets across the track.
And thankfully the weather forecast of snow and ice over the past days hasn’t materialised yet.
Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper, told Nick Luck Daily: “I think we’re quite hopeful, certainly taking stock of the latest forecast we’ve got for the remainder of the week.
“It suggests a frost-free night from Friday into Saturday and diminishing risks of snow-showers in the next couple of days and we haven’t got any water-logging issues with no significant rain in the forecast too.
“But we’re not out of the woods and we probably need to judge this day-by-day.
“But we’re probably getting increasingly optimistic about Saturday.”
The feature Grade 1 Unibet Tolworth Hurdle has attracted 12 entries. Dan Skelton’s Kempton scorer Third Time Lucki currently heads the market at 2-1.
Hereford’s card on the same afternoon will face an inspection to see if it gets the go-ahead.
Friday’s New Year’s Day racing at Musselburgh and Exeter – set to replace Cheltenham live on ITV – will also be wary of troubling forecasts.
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