Hopes high meetings can beat cold snap
WE resume racing at Ffos Las this Thursday ( January 7) with seven races. The meeting starts at 12.58pm.
A total of 102 horses have been entered across the card. Hopefully, the temperatures won’t drop too low and cause any issues with the ground conditions.
This month we also race on Friday, January 22, followed by fixtures on Thursday, February 4, and Thursday, February 11. All our meetings are shown live on Sky Sports Racing.
As I mentioned in a recent column, the British Horseracing Authority has confirmed all meetings across the UK until the end of April. Those scheduled from May to December remain provisional until any further impact of Covid-19 restrictions is known.
As with so many issues related to the pandemic, matters can change weekly, and sometimes daily.
The rescheduled £150,000 Coral Welsh Grand National takes place at Chepstow this Saturday. Frost covers are being deployed on the track, with temperatures forecast to dip from today onwards. The going is currently heavy and there is very little rain forecast.
There are eight races on the card, starting at 11.45am. Sky Sports Racing will show all the races live, with the Welsh National and the Coral Finale Hurdle both live on ITV.
Meanwhile, Pembrokeshire jockey Sean Bowen had a great weekend. On Saturday he rode the exciting Metier to victory in the Grade 1 Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle for trainer Harry Fry.
The five-year-old stormed up the Sandown hill to win by 12 lengths from Shakem Up’arry, a winner at Ffos Las for owner Harry Redknapp in November.
Bookmakers were impressed. Having started Saturday as big as 50-1 for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, Metier is now a bestpriced 8-1. He’s a very exciting horse for Bowen to look forward to riding in the major races.
Sean has now moved on to 48 winners for the season. His brother James rode his 17th winner of the campaign last week when Mac Tottie won at Market Rasen for his father Peter.
Discussions with the Welsh Government about pilot racedays with spectators are likely to continue this month, but with Covid-19 cases still high, it’s unlikely we’ll have any confirmed dates for a few weeks.