The arrival of Jack Frost is rarely good news for the horseracing fraternity. When you flick on the weather midweek and the forecast for the next few days comprises a blue map of the UK and lots of negative numbers, it is hard not to feel a twinge of uncertainty and frustration.
So, will we be racing on the weekend, or not?
Organising a successful point-to-point takes the best part of 12 months to prepare and often costs in excess of £20k. With so much at stake, organisers want to give a meeting every chance of taking place by calling one or more inspections on the morning of racing in the hope that bright winter sunshine draws any frost out of the ground.
As a jockey, abandoned or postponed racing often means that your rides begin to stack up and they then end up being forced to run against each other.
For an owner it is another week of paying training fees without the pleasure of seeing your horse run.
But for the trainers and stable staff, getting a horse to peak physical fitness is hard enough in fair weather; ensuring it is mentally ready is another challenge. Achieving the two goals at the same time only to be thwarted by poor weather is therefore hugely disappointing and can make for uncomfortably lively Monday mornings.
Ref: Horse & Hound; 2 February 2016
