‘It’s a lovely sight for a photo, but not one we want to see for racing’ – heavy snow forces Hexham to cancel Wednesday card
Wednesday’s meeting at Hexham has been cancelled after snowfall heavier than expected left the track unraceable.
The Northumberland course was due to stage a six-race card, but an 8am inspection was called after the weather changed significantly in the early hours of the morning.
Rain in the region of 5mm fell last night but it has since turned into snow, which has covered the track. Officials assessed conditions but deemed the track to be unfit for racing and a significant rise in temperatures was not expected to help thaw it out.
Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: “We were pretty optimistic yesterday and thought we’d have no issues whatsoever. We thought there’d be rain and some sleet, but the snow became very heavy between 4am and 7am. It’s stopped now, but temperatures are still at 0C and it was only due to rise to 1C or 2C by midday, which isn’t enough time to shift it.
“We’ve got around three inches of snow currently on the track. It’s a lovely sight for a photo, but not the sight we want to see for racing.”
Hexham is set to stage one more meeting this year next month before it has its annual break until March. Armstrong hopes the weather will not repeat its trick then.
“We’re high up, so this does happen from time to time,” he said. “We had the health and safety of people in the grandstands to consider and the snow wasn’t going to move from there in time either. It was a relatively easy decision to cancel.”
No inspections are currently planned for the day’s two other jumps meetings in Britain. It is soft, good to soft in places at Warwick, while it is soft, heavy in places at Ffos Las.
The day’s action is completed by two all-weather meetings at Kempton and Dundalk in Ireland.
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Published on 19 November 2025inBritain
Last updated 08:26, 19 November 2025
