Talking Horses

No racing in Britain as Kempton abandon! Chris Cook reports: Kempton have just announced that their twilight meeting has been abandoned. Although they managed to clear the track of overnight snow, access to the course remained very difficult. Horses, jockeys, spectators and, crucially, medical staff were going to struggle to get there, so it was decided that the meeting should be called off. Lingfield had made the same decision earlier this morning, so this will be a blank day for racing in Britain and Ireland. Kempton and Lingfield are both due to race again tomorrow, when they will face similar problems. Southwell is also scheduled for tomorrow. There have been other abandonments this morning. Friday's jump meetings at Bangor and Fontwell will not take place, while Saturday's fixtures at Wincanton and Sedgefield have also been called off, as has Sunday's card at Hereford. Ayr's Monday card is at obvious risk and an inspection has been arranged for tomorrow morning. We'll post weather updates on here later in the day. Here's hoping that Ffos Las can race on Saturday, when their card looks quite exciting – especially in the context of no other turf racing since Sunday! Tipping competition – you've got the day off! Melonk stormed to the front with a double at Southwell yesterday, taking his tally for the week to four winners from six tips, which is, at the least, adequate. Since there is no racing in Britain or Ireland today, we'll call this a day of rest in the competition, in the hope that we don't get another one any time soon. We did toy with the idea of asking you to solve races from Tampa, Aqueduct and Gulfstream, and it may yet come to that by the end of the week. See you on here tomorrow! Standings after day two melonk +13.83 Harrytheactor +8 chris1623 +8 Viejo +6.33 coma88 +6.33 johnny909 +6 Rivercity +5.50 goofs +4 slackdad38 +4 WalthamstowLad +4 chiefhk +4 JDK1 +4 stee33 +2.33 diegoisgod +2.33 Brochdoll +2.33 suckzinclee +2.33 shrewdette +2.33 mike65ie +2 mightytigers2000 +2 Smidster +2 Mai11 +0 SussexRH -1.67 gashead1105 -1.67 sandiuk -1.67 cloudy75 -1.67 lasramblas -1.67 Hotspur61 -2 tiznow -2 Moscow08 -2 23skidoo -2 Harchibald -2 factormax -6 tom1977 -6 xwireman -6 flyingdustman -6 fatdeano -6 leviticus67 -6 keepitdusty -6 MillieJ -6 sangfroid -6 TheVic -6 Touche1 -6 smokincrooky -6 3.45pm Optimism goes out the window Peering from my window, four miles from Kempton Park, it appears to me that the snow situation has got substantially worse in the last couple of hours. I wouldn't want to bet that either Kempton or Lingfield will be in a better position to stage racing tomorrow, though the snow is supposed to stop in an hour or so. Punchestown's meeting on Saturday has just been abandoned, the track being covered in snow. The clerk of the course at Ffos Las says he is still hopeful about racing that day, though he is concerned about the forecast for temperatures as low as -6C over the next two days. On Betfair, the chances of Ffos Las going ahead are currently assessed at around 9-2.