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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."

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

Gamilati cut for 1,000 Guineas after comfortable Dubai victory

• UAE Classic winner romps home under Dettori
• Victor to be aimed at Newmarket prize in May

Gamilati, the winner of the Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket last season, moved from last to first without coming off the bit on the way to an easy win in the UAE 1,000 Guineas at Meydan on Friday. The victory underlined the potential strength in depth of Godolphin's three-year-old fillies this season, and while Gamilati is now top-priced at 16-1 for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, two more Godolphin-trained Classic candidates, Discourse and Lyric Of Light, are shorter still in the betting.

Frankie Dettori was clearly confident throughout Friday's race, and sat several lengths off the lead in the early stages before bringing Gamilati down the middle of the home straight on a tight rein. She went on to her stablemate Pimpernel by five and a half lengths, with Alsindi a further two and a quarter lengths behind in third.

The UAE version of the Newmarket Classic is only a Listed event, while Gamilati's win in the Group Two Cherry Hinton last season did not prove to be solid form. Shumoos, who took a Group Three on the all-weather at Kempton in September, was the only subsequent winner of any significance to emerge from the Newmarket race, while Gamilati herself finished last of 11 in her next start, in the Lowther Stakes at York.

Pimpernel's two-length second place to Wading, one of Aidan O'Brien's best juvenile fillies last year and a 10-1 chance for the Newmarket Guineas, reads well in the circumstances, however, and certainly suggests that Gamilati is potentially worth a run in the Classic this spring.

Ante-post punters may need to wait for confirmation of Gamilati's programme before backing her for the Guineas, as the Classic did not seem to be the first race on the mind of Sheikh Mohammed, Godolphin's founder, in the immediate aftermath of Friday's success.

"She is a very nice filly with a touch of class and that was a very good performance," Sheikh Mohammed said. "We have lots of options with her now with the UAE Oaks [later this month] is under definite consideration and perhaps then the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot or maybe the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket."

Dettori was surprised by the ease of Gamilati's win. "I was obviously very hopeful beforehand, but I did not expect that sort of performance," he said. "I was swinging off her turning for home and she picked up very strongly off a steady pace. I was pleasantly surprised with her and that was an impressive run."

The main supporting race on Friday's card, the Group Three Al Shindagha Sprint, saw a narrow win for Hitchens, from David Barron's yard in Yorkshire. Ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, Hitchens scraped home by a short head from Krypton Factor in a race worth £77,000 to the winner.

This was Barron's first win in Dubai, and he will now aim Hitchens towards a run on World Cup night at the end of March.

"He has been a great servant to us and this is a big win on the international stage for a lower profile yard," Barron said. "[He will run next on] Super Saturday [on 10 March] and then, hopefully, World Cup night will be next on the agenda."

Talking Horses

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

6pm Post mortem: Guest is the right host for Daniel Thomas

Chris Cook: At least one of the overpriced good things obliged. Daniel Thomas got the hat-trick up at Wolverhampton, travelling like a horse who was a lot younger than 10. You have to think that the trainers who had him before September, when Richard Guest got him, have not made the most of him. Nor have punters, as he was 3-1 today after being 9-2 for his two recent wins. He will be a lot higher in the ratings for his next handicap, alas.

Moderator was not the good thing I imagined but he hardly had the race run to suit, Biba Diva setting a terribly slow pace from which he struggled to quicken. He'll do better than this in a stronger race though he might also benefit from going back to Kempton for a mile and a half race.

Scary Movie and Favourite Girl both nicked places in the apprentice race at Wolverhampton, though Prince Of Sorrento faded into last behind Daniel Thomas after racing keenly.

Kames Park backers will be gutted by what happened in the last at Lingfield, nicked from the front by Maslak under a canny ride by Michael Mitchell. Serena Brotherton seemed to sit rather a long time before urging Kames Park to pursue the eventual winner and was closing all the way to the line, at which point they still trailed by two necks. Woe, woe and thrice woe but that, folks, is what happens when you bet on amateurs or at Lingfield, where every race comes with heartbreak guaranteed.

Good Of Luck looked pretty nifty when making a winning debut in the 10-furlong maiden and Mick Channon's beast has a Derby entry (you probably wanted to know that hours ago). He was apparently kicked by the runner-up after the race, which is one way of trying to make sure you turn the tables next time.

1pm Lunchtime update

Chris Cook: What do I know? Since my supportive comments for Moderator (3.30) this morning, he's drifted to 5-2. As always, I'm wrestling with myself to decide whether this means I should be put off or should have a bigger bet. William Hill report money for two others in the race, Rhythmic (5-1 from 8s) and Come On Blue Chip (5s from 7-1).

Hill's also report money for Kames Park (4.35), 11-2 from 8-1 for Lingfield's amateur race after getting a positive mention on here this morning. You can still get 13-2 on Betfair.

A couple have been backed at bigger prices at Wolverhampton, Scary Movie (2.10) being 14-1 from 20s for the opener while Prince Of Sorrento (3.15) is 11-1 from 18s for the mile handicap.

Over at Meydan in Dubai, Gamilati hacked up over Pimpernel and others in the UAE 1,000 Guineas and is on offer at 16-1 for our Guineas.

Cheltenham Festival stat of the day, by Paul Jones

For the third year running, the initial entry for the JCB Triumph Hurdle revealed yesterday totalled 77. Over recent seasons the Triumph picture has only just started to develop at around this juncture and you will do well to note that seven of the last eight winners were not handed their hurdling debut until at least December - Katchit being the black sheep. In fact, 50% of that winning octet did not even face a hurdle in public for the first time until at least January which should make punters think twice about supporting a horse that had been impressing in October and November such as last season's favourite, Sam Winner, who could only finish fourth last March. In fact, we were not even given the opportunity to evaluate the last two Triumph winners outside of France until just three weeks before the race and as many as 16 of the 77 entries have yet to run over hurdles including the big Irish hope, Minsk. As many as 17 of the last 19 Triumph Hurdle winners had their previous start in February so keep those eyes peeled from now on.

Paul Jones is author of the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Guide

Friday's best bets, by Chris Cook

And so we face a second consecutive day without jump racing in Britain, Catterick having been abandoned this morning after overnight temperatures of -7C. I do enjoy Catterick but you wouldn't want to be using their unroofed gents' loo when it's that chilly.

Sandown has already been lost tomorrow and Wetherby seems very likely to follow when they inspect this afternoon. Even Ffos Las, where officials had seemed confident of staging tomorrow's Welsh Champion Hurdle, is frozen in places under the covers.

The loss of Sandown is a particular problem for Nicky Henderson, who must now cast around for somewhere else to give Binocular a prep-run before the Champion Hurdle. The poor beast never seems to get a clear run at the race.

Apparently, Henderson is considering the Morebattle at Kelso as an option, which is brave in light of what happened the last time he prepped a Champion Hurdle horse in that contest. On ground so swampy as to be almost unraceable, Zaynar was turned over at odds of 1-14 a couple of years ago and, as the disappointed trainer made tracks for the car park, a well-refreshed racegoer yelled that he had been "sent homeward tae think again".

At least Gary Moore won't have so far to drive if the Lingfield racegoers send him packing with their scorn and derision ringing in his ears, but I have hope that he may meet with no such fate. His Moderator (3.30) runs in the 10-furlong handicap and is a serious bet at a shade over 2-1 on Betfair as I type.

Being by Motivator out of a Generous mare, this sort of trip is surely a minimum for him, especially on a sharp, all-weather circuit. How, then, did he manage to win a maiden on his debut over just seven furlongs at Kempton in December?

He overcame inexperience and trouble in running that day, as well as not having the race run to suit, and it was altogether a most taking performance. He must have scope for progress and that means that his rating of 79, with which he starts in handicaps today, surely underestimates him. At Kempton, he finished a length in front of a 76-rated rival who has since won a maiden.

Wolverhampton's first race sees Pipers Piping back in action after scoring at Southwell yesterday, but there might be a smidgen of value at 8-1 about Favourite Girl (2.10). She showed moderate promise for Sir Henry Cecil in three maidens last summer but would have needed the outing when making her handicap debut at Lingfield recently, having since joined Michael Appleby.

That experience and the extra furlong and a half may have set her up to make the most of her low rating today.

I'm surprised you can get 3-1 about Daniel Thomas (3.15), who has a great chance of the hat-trick under a 6lb penalty for an easy win at Kempton last week. Emerald Royal, beaten seven lengths into second, won yesterday from a 1lb lower mark.

Of course, that's the first of our competition races and 3-1 simply won't cut it for some of you. Nor, I imagine, will you be tempted by 11-4 about Blown It (4.50) after he got beaten yesterday. But he travelled well for a long way before Shirley Teasdale directed him towards a gap that didn't appear and Joe Fanning, who won on him the time before, may have more joy today.

Best of luck with the amateur riders' race at Lingfield. Serena Brotherton is always worth a look in these races and she gets the leg-up on Kames Park (4.35), a triple course winner who is just 4lb higher than for his latest success here in December. You can get 6-1.

Tipping competition, day five

Millreef turned the screw yesterday with Viva Ronaldo (6-1) but nonetheless finds Moscow08 right up behind him, having picked the other two winners, Harrys Yer Man (11-2) and Suddenly Susan (6-5).

For today's thrilling climax, we'd like your tips, please, for these races: 3.15 Wolverhampton, 4.35 Lingfield, 4.50 Wolverhampton.

This week's prize is a pack of the new Top Trumps-style cards featuring chasers and hurdlers, as described at the top of the page. If you don't win, you can buy a pack here.

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. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today, but you will start on -12.

GET YOUR TIPS IN EARLY! 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 (today).

For terms and conditions click here.

Good luck!

Standings after day four

millreef +20

Moscow08 +19.20

elbonjourno +13.70

orso +13.70

Dangalf +10

sandiuk +9

kenty58 +9

Sportingchad +8.70

chiefhk +7.50

Ormrod76 +7.20

Mai11 +7

tom1977 +5.20

Mulldog +5.20

erifder +5

mmmdanish +5

fatdeano +5

shears39 +4.50

GForce1 +4.20

SussexRH +3

unfaircomment +2.70

noodlearms +2.70

Shrewdette +2.50

wiggy12 +0.50

Ellandback +0.50

William36 +0.50

JahLion +0.50

manni +0.20

natwho -0.30

VolleVlug -0.30

TL127 -1

jaygee1 -1.30

MauriceNL -2

goofs -2.30

Lameduck -2.50

kingklynch -2.50

slackdad38 -2.80

moidadem -3.50

MrWinnersSonInLaw -3.50

Lindsey6677 -4.30

genesismama57 -4.30

ToffeeDan1 -4.50

sangfroid -4.50

londonpatrick -5

twig28 -5

waltersobchak -5

carl31 -6.50

factormax -6.80

Viejo -7.50

scandalous -8

chanleyman -8

Thewrongtree -8

diegoisgod -9

curlycov -9

Fixxxer -9

melonk -9

aledrhyswhyn -9

15244 -9

Neltrader1 -9.80

23skidoo -9.80

spiller -9.80

BenFConroy -9.80

xwireman -12

BearRides -12

Copshaw -12

cerises -12

SmokingGun1 -12

tanias -12

WalthamstowLad -12

chipsolderer -12

MISTERCHESTER -12

NRJITFC -12

rankingdread -12

chris1623 -12

Steve084 -12

lonewolfmcquaid -12

suckzinclee -12

glavintoby -12

Blitzwing -12

Harrytheactor -12

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