The cold weather continues to have a major impact on meetings across the UK and Ireland this week, but racing does go ahead at both Southwell and Chelmsford on Thursday.
Freezing temperatures across northern and western Europe has seen racing at Naas, Exeter and Ffos Las all fall by the wayside.
However, after a morning inspection, two in the case of Chelmsford, there is racing from England to look forward to this afternoon.
The seven-race card from Southwell on the Tapeta surface gets under way at 14:03, with the final contest from the Nottinghamshire circuit at 17:05.
Southwell’s opener is covered by Betfred’s Free Bet if 2nd promotion, in a contest in which Brett Johnson-trained Lucy Lightfoot (14/1) will be looking to spring a surprise.
Having previously ran for trainer Stuart Williams, Lucy Lightfoot showed promising signs on debut for her new yard in late November at Kempton.
The two-year-old will be looking to rediscover the form that helped her secure her one and only win on the all-weather at Longfield back in May.
Meanwhile, Betfred’s Extra Place offer will cover four faces at Southwell, in the 14:33, 15:03, 15:33 and 17:05.
The last race at 17:05 sees Michael Appleby’s Politics (5/4) as the firm favourite to come out on top.
Claim The Stars (11/2) and King Of Speed (11/2) have earned admirers ahead of this race and will be hoping to challenge Politics for the win.
Moving on to the other meeting to survive the cold on Thursday and there’s another seven races to take in at Chelmsford.
Passing an early-morning and 10am inspection, the action on the Polytrack at Chelmsford eventually got the go-ahead today.
Racing gets under way this evening at 17:30, with the final race of the day at 20:30.
That finale is also covered by Betfred’s Extra Place promotion as rivals look to topple early favourite Brains (15/8) for the win.
With two previous wins at Chelmsford, outsider Legende D’art (11/1) knows what it takes to come out on top at this circuit.
The Henry Spiller-trained runner has something to prove in this one, as he looks to compete at the business end of the race with the likes of Brains, Wadacre Grace (3/1) and Nasim (11/2).
