? Kempton reschedule feature jumps race to 15 January
? Cheltenham hope thaw will allow meeting to take place
The 2010 renewal of the King George VI Chase will be run a fortnight into the new year after attempts to stage it this afternoon were abandoned.
Kauto Star, the winner of the last four King Georges, will need to wait until the meeting at Kempton on 15 January to attempt a record-breaking fifth success in the Grade One event, even though a forecast thaw in the Sunbury area could mean that its frozen track is raceable by the end of the week.
Brian Clifford, the clerk of the course at Kempton, had the option to leave a decision on whether to race at Kempton today until tomorrow morning, but decided to abandon the meeting at lunchtime following lower overnight temperatures than expected.
The King George has not been lost to the weather since 1995, when it became one of the first races to benefit from new procedures to save major events and was won by One Man at Sandown in early January. The race also moved to Sandown in 2005 while Kempton was being redeveloped, though it was run in its traditional slot on Boxing Day.
The meeting at Sandown on 8 January was one obvious possibility for the King George, but Kempton's Lanzarote Hurdle meeting, the last realistic option, has been preferred in order to keep the race at its normal track and trip. The Grade One Christmas Hurdle, also originally scheduled for Boxing Day, will be run on the same card.
"We are naturally bitterly disappointed to have lost the William Hill Winter Festival to the severe winter weather," Amy Starkey, the track's managing director, said. "Everyone at the racecourse did all that they could to get racing on, but the elements defeated us.
"Though it has not taken place at Christmas as we expected, the whole of racing can now start looking forward once again to Kauto Star's bid to win a record-breaking fifth William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton. We will be making all the necessary arrangements and will make announcements about race times and admission prices this week."
Hope remains that Ffos Las will stage the first jumps racing in Britain since 16 December on Tuesday, although Tim Long, the clerk of the course, said that he will "not be making any rash predictions".
The Welsh course has been covered to protect it from frost and is currently raceable under an inch of snow.
"We need to get rid of that snow and, as we are forecast some rain overnight on Sunday with temperatures up to 4C, that will help us," Long said. "With a maximum daytime temperature of 7C forecast on Tuesday with no overnight frost previously, I am cautiously optimistic."
Newbury's valuable meeting on Wednesday, which is due to include two Grade One events, is also hanging in the balance, along with the New Year's Day meeting at Cheltenham.
"We are currently covered in something like six inches of snow, and we are due to get no higher than minus 5C today," Andy Clifton, Cheltenham's communications manager, said.
"The next three or four days will determine what happens at the weekend. The forecast has to be accurate, or better than accurate, for us to have a chance."
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