Tuesday 12 December 2017 10:53, UK
Racing over jumps at Ayr and on the all-weather at Wolverhampton was lost on Tuesday as the freeze hitting Britain continued to bite.
The meeting at Ayr was abandoned in the early morning, after temperatures fell to as low as minus 7C overnight, not being expected to be above freezing until 10am.
Officials at Wolverhampton were on alert when calling a check of conditions with a 10am precautionary inspection, and while the course was reported to be "virtually clear" of snow at the time, clerk of the course Fergus Cameron later said: "It's hugely disappointing. We worked the track overnight and it responded really well, but unfortunately some of the equine associated areas around the track are unsafe.
"Everyone has worked really hard. We've had representatives from Hereford and Uttoxeter helping us clear snow and obviously eight inches across the track takes a lot of clearing.
"We managed that well, but temperatures dipped to minus 8C overnight and it was still minus 3C at the time of the inspection."
The card planned for Hexham on Wednesday was also called off on Tuesday, with clerk of the course James Armstrong tweeting: "5th hard frost on the bounce (-3c last night) @HexhamRaces & sadly Racing on Weds has been abandoned due to a frozen track & insufficient time for a decent thaw."
Leicester joined Hexham in abandoning racing tomorrow, with temperatures of minus 8C recorded overnight.
Newcastle plays host to a jumps fixture on Thursday, and although frozen in places, a milder forecast offers hope and an inspection will take place at 8am on raceday morning.
Armstrong is also the clerk at Newcastle and he tweeted: "Last cold night Mon into Tues (-3c). Daytime temps set to rise to +5c today, Weds (with poss light rain) & Thurs. Given milder f'cast we will Inspect on Thurs 8am (morning of racing) in order to give the meeting every chance."
