TONY CALVIN: It’s looking like an all-weather weekend at the moment

UPDATED 3.30pm Wednesday -Wetherby abandoned

Wetherby has just been abandoned.

There is an inspection at Warwick on 8am Thursday, though it is highly likely to be off.

Kempton have just updated, too (see below).

That is more promising  – but not a great deal given the freezing temperatures for the next three nights.

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UPDATED 2.35pm Tuesday

KEMPTON (2.12pm Tuesday):  “The lake bend is improving and should be raceable by tomorrow. Most of the standing water has now dispersed. Broken Showers. The weather forecast is not nice with further rain/sleet/snow and plummeting temperatures of -3/-4 on Wednesday and Thursday night.”

WARWICK (10.18am Tuesday): “12mm of sleet/snow Saturday night and a further 30mm of rain Sunday night. The brook burst and the second half of the back straight flooded, but water has receded quickly. We are currently waterlogged in front of the last down the back, and the first half of the home straight. Temperatures dropped sub zero last night and look to reach a low of -4 Wednesday night, -3 Thursday night with forecasts varying on Friday night from -1 to -3. Daytime highs of +3. When possible we will cover landings, take-offs and vulnerable areas.”

WETHERBY – abandoned

BHA looking at their options

“The BHA racing team is expecting to make changes this weekend and is currently reviewing options, including the possibility of whether a jumps fixture could be staged elsewhere,” said Richard Wayman, BHA director of racing and betting.

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It is fair to say the prospects for turf racing on Saturday do not look great at the moment.

See below for details.

It looks a largely dry forecast this week but temperatures are due to hit as low as -6 in places.

Kempton report the going as soft, heavy in places (the lake bend is currently waterlogged and unraceable) and add: “the weather forecast is not nice with further rain/sleet/snow and plummeting temperatures.”

That was at 2.47pm on Sunday, though.

Wetherby is soft but the course is covered in snow. Their latest update reads: “Further sleet and snow forecast for Sunday and Monday, followed by dry, clear and cold days and nights, with multiple nights of -5C or colder currently forecast.”

That was at 2.13pm on Sunday, though.

However, this looks firmly odds-against to go ahead.

Well done to Warwick

Warwick is heavy, soft in places, and is currently flooded in areas. Their update on Monday morning was not promising. It looks particularly grim there.

It read: “12mm of sleet/snow Saturday night and a further 30mm of rain overnight. The track is currently flooded towards the end of the back straight and waterlogged in areas on the home straight. We are not forecast any more rain this week. However the next challenge is that temperatures are set to drop below freezing tomorrow night onwards, lows of -3, possibly rising to -1 on Friday night. We are currently not in a position to cover the track.”

That was at 8.42am on Monday.

A later update today, to the Racing Post, said: “”After 30 millimetres of rain overnight the brook has burst its banks and reached parts of the course. The track is currently under water, but we hope it will drain back and we’re doing everything we can to help it.

“The next challenge is that the temperatures from Tuesday night look set to go sub-zero, and we can’t cover the track where its waterlogged, so we need the water to go down. It normally takes up to three days to recede, so we’re rather sitting on our hands at the moment.

“We seem to have had all the seasons in one go, with wind, snow, sleet and rain. It’s fairly challenging, but we’re up for the challenge.”

No point bothering with an ante-post column

In the circumstances, I don’t think it is worth doing an ante-post column, but I thought I would keep you up to date.

If the situation improves, I’ll be back, but I imagine we could be looking at an all-weather ITV Saturday from Wolverhampton and Newcastle.

However, let us hope we get as lucky this week, as we got unfortunate last, as regards the current forecasts.

Somehow, I doubt it.

GOING/WEATHER ON SATURDAY

KEMPTON – an inspection appears inevitable at some stage given forecast

Going – Soft, heavy in places

Going stick: 5.0

Course update: “Snow. -3.5C overnight. We are forecast 3cm to 5cm this evening with a low of -4C into Thursday. We are also forecast -4C on Thursday night with daytime temperature on Friday of +2C. Friday evening is currently -2C but that may change.”

WARWICK – inspection 8am Thursday

Going – Heavy, soft in places (currently frozen in places)

Weather: Dry now but below freezing every night this week (as low as -4 and -5 all week)

Course update: “12mm of sleet/snow Saturday night and a further 30mm of rain Sunday night. The brook burst and the second half of the back straight flooded, but water has receded quickly. Whilst the chase track has cleared there is still surface water, which has frozen, on the home straight, hurdle track. Temperatures reach -3c overnight and we are forecast similar lows for the next 3 nights. We are currently UNRACEABLE due to areas of surface water on the hurdle track and frozen areas of fill on the chase track. We are holding an inspection tomorrow at 8am in case the temperatures don’t reach predicted lows over night.”

WETHERBY – inspection 3.30pm Wednesday

Going – Soft (course currently covered in snow)

Weather: Dry now but below freezing every night this week (as low as -4 and -5 all week)

Course update: “Course still covered in snow, but also extensively flooded and frozen! Internal Dykes have burst their banks, so the back straight is mostly under water, along with several other areas. PROSPECTS ARE SLIMMER THAN ME!”

“24mm sleet / rain through Sunday night into Monday AM. Monday’s daytime temp didn’t get above 2C, so not much snow has thawed. Temps dropped to around 0C overnight into Tuesday. Dry, cold and clear week forecast with max daytime temps of 3C and overnight lows of -5C/-6C from Tuesday night onwards.”