DRY FORECAST FORCES BHA TO AXE CHASES AT LINGFIELD AND HEREFORD

Steeplechasing has been scrapped from two cards next week after the British Horseracing Authority confirmed a run of changes to the Jump programme, with a dry forecast leaving racecourses unable to guarantee suitable ground over fences.

Lingfield Park on Tuesday 10 November and Hereford on Thursday 12 November will both lose their chases and stage hurdle-only cards instead. The governing body announced the alterations on Thursday 5 November.

Replacement races added

To fill the gaps, Lingfield will add an all-weather National Hunt Flat race and a handicap hurdle for mares, while Hereford gains a maiden National Hunt Flat race restricted to mares. The BHA said full details of the new races would appear on Racing Admin.

The knock-on effects stretch into the following week. A two-mile beginners' chase due to be run at Exeter on Monday 16 November has been dropped from that card and switched to Ffos Las on Wednesday 18 November, where the BHA believes it has a better chance of attracting a decent field on the expected going. The authority said it still hopes the rest of Exeter's fixture will go ahead.

Watering the priority

Arena Racing Company, which runs Lingfield and Hereford, indicated that with little rain on the way the tracks were expected to dry out significantly. Its racing director Ben Cook said the focus of watering would now be on keeping safe ground on the hurdles track at Lingfield, with similar work planned at Hereford.

The changes highlight a familiar early-season headache for the jumps game. With the big November meetings approaching, trainers will be watching the forecast closely, and further alterations to the programme cannot be ruled out if the dry spell continues.