THE winter weather continues to play havoc with the fixture list at home and abroad.
But for those meetings that get the green light it still throws up plenty of curveballs.
And for commentator Jimmy McNerney, the recent card at Turfway Park in Kentucky, America, was a nightmare.
A blizzard suddenly descended on the track ahead of the fourth race and out the window went all McNerney’s preparation.
It was time to forget the numbers, jockeys and colours and get creative.
The horses were close to impossible to tell apart for much of the way.
But McNerney made the most of his opportunity.
“They continue to race around the turn, and your guess as good as mine with about a quarter mile to go,” he joked live.
He soon added: “Up top it’s somebody who just leads somebody there in second, and a couple lengths back somebody is coming after a quarter in 1:13 and four.
“They run to the top of the stretch, it’s absolutely wide open!”
Speaking after the race, the commentator told Paulick Report: “You just try to pick them out, relay what you see, and when you can’t see you just don’t want dead air.
“I’ve always had some things in my head, especially if it was football or baseball season or something, but obviously there’s nothing going on right now because of COVID, so that’s just what came out!”
Similar conditions have caused havoc closer to home with Punchestown’s high-profile Grade 1 John Durkan Chase run in dense fog.
The meeting was eventually abandoned but commentator Jerry Hannon also suffered.
“I’m not overly sure of their current location at this point,” he laughed.
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Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sportingexcitement.com/horse-racing/jiggling-boobs-mooning-presenters-and-naked-punters-cheltenham-to-be-quiet-but-racing-elsewheres-never-been-wilder