Racing at Wolverhampton had to bow to the elements as deteriorating conditions at Dunstall Park forced the abandonment of this afternoon's all-weather fixture after the running of four races.
Temperatures of minus 9C were recorded at 5am this morning, and snow started to settle before a precautionary inspection was called for 1.35pm, with the first race due off 30 minutes later. A decision was taken that racing would go ahead, although the situation would continue to be monitored.
The track was worked throughout, but the snow continued to come and with a bleak forecast for the remainder of the afternoon, stumps were drawn after a deputation of officials checked the track before the fifth of seven scheduled races.
Ffos Las clerk of the course Tim Long admitted to being "devastated" after being forced to abandon this afternoon's high-profile fixture due to a frozen track.
The Carmarthenshire venue was due to stage its biggest meeting of the National Hunt calendar, with Oscar Whisky, who runs in the colours of Ffos Las owner Dai Walters, set to defend his crown in the William Hill Welsh Champion Hurdle.
But after consecutive nights of freezing temperatures, Long had little option but to call off the card, and although initial talks about rescheduling for Sunday did take place, that idea has now been scrapped.
Long said: "We got down to minus 1C overnight and there is a fierce wind chill. 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 minus 6C and that is what has really done the damage.
"We did look into running the meeting on Sunday but logistically, it just isn't going to be possible. There are various reasons and we just aren't able to put a team together at this late stage.
"We don't want to tell people that we're rescheduling and then find out we haven't got the team for racing to go ahead. We're absolutely devastated as everyone has worked incredibly hard to try to get racing on."
