The Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow will feature no races over fences after a lack of rain left the chase course unsuitable, with the BHA announcing a series of programme changes.
The three-day fixture, rebranded from Friday October 9 to Sunday October 11, will now stage only hurdle and National Hunt Flat races. The Tom Malone Bloodstock Novices’ Chase, among the meeting’s biggest races, will not take place after the track was forced to abandon chase races on Friday, 14 days before the fixture.
Weather stalls track preparation
Ben Cook, racing director at Chepstow’s owners ARC, said: "We are obviously disappointed to have to make these changes to the DragonBet Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow, but we wanted to make and announce the decision as early as possible."
"The racecourse team have been working incredibly hard over the course of the summer, and into the autumn, to get both of Chepstow's jumps tracks ready for this meeting. We have simply been beaten by the weather, as far as the chase course is concerned."
Chepstow received 63mm of rain in late August, which made a significant positive impact on the track, alongside irrigation work. However, the track has received only 43mm of rain in September, with none in the last ten days, stalling progress and leaving the chase course without sufficient ease in the ground.
BHA reshuffles fixtures
The BHA has made up for some of the loss by making fixtures at Worcester on October 12 and Ffos Las on October 14 all-chase cards. Ludlow’s meeting on October 7 has been cancelled, with the track deemed unraceable, and a replacement fixture scheduled at Worcester the same day.
Tom Byrne, the BHA’s head of racing and betting, said: "We appreciate that these are significant changes to the race programme at this stage of the season. However, we hope that as a package they will allow the sport to deliver an appropriate jumping programme over the coming weeks."
"Our intention is to ensure that racing over both hurdles and fences takes place on the best ground available, and we are grateful to Ludlow and ARC for their support in enabling these interventions. We also hope they are welcomed in the circumstances by participants, and we thank them for their ongoing support."
Further updates are likely to follow on a weekly basis from this point as the BHA continues to work with racecourses and participants to provide the best jumping ground possible amidst the ongoing challenges presented by the lack of rain across the country. Cheltenham’s first fixture is scheduled for October 23 and 24.
