With the cold snap hitting the UK at the weekend, the sport of racing suffered with some meetings falling victim to the inclement weather.

Saturday’s card at Sandown was abandoned after an early morning inspection. The Surrey course was frozen after temperatures dropped to minus four during the early hours of the morning. Although the ground staff did everything in their powers to get the meeting on by laying down frost covers, come the morning the covers had frozen to the track making it almost impossible to lift them.

The meeting at Wincanton also fell victim to the adverse weather, leaving only two all weather cards at Southwell and Wolverhampton to take centre stage.

On Sunday Plumpton’s Premier meeting featuring the Sussex National was called off because of worsening conditions, despite passing a 8.30am inspection, with some areas of standing water on the track.

By 10am Plumpton were forced to cancel the meeting because of seven millimetres of rain in just two hours, leaving no option to abandon the meeting.

The track was set to stage a seven-race card with the £35,000 Sussex National the main race of the day.

Chepstow’s efforts to get racing on ended up being in vain after just two races. The course had previously passed a couple of inspections, but after Carismatic Soldier won the second race on the card, this prompted another inspection after heavy rain along with snow and bad visibility made it virtually impossible for the meeting to continue, with racing eventually called off at 1.15pm.

In other racing news, JP McManus has snapped up Cheltenham Festival favourite The New Lion from owner Darren Yates.

The New Lion has looked an outstanding prospect, winning all four races for Dan Skelton, culminating in last month’s Grade 1 Challow Hurdle at Newbury.

McManus was crowned champion jumps owner for the 16th time in 2023-24 along with a record 78 winners at the Cheltenham Festival.

Over in Ireland at the weekend The Yellow Clay extended his unbeaten record over hurdles for Gordon Elliott.

Ascot have announced this year’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot will be the richest-ever race run at the royal course with prize money boosted to £1.5 million.

Alongside the increase, this year’s running will be the first under a new incentive scheme whereby the owners of the horses competing in the Group 1 will have their entry fees refunded in full.

Over at Lingfield Park on Thursday on the all-weather surface, trainer David Allen made a rare visit to the track, making it a winning one when Secret Strength justified plenty of strong market support to take the second division of the 7f handicap.

The Group 1 winning jockey last rode at Lingfield back in 2022, but struck on the Shaun Lycett trained six-year-old by a length-and-a-half.

Jockey Jason Hart made it three winners from his past four rides with a double on Jiffs Army and Master Of Fate.

Northern trainer Charlie Johnson made the long round-trip worthwhile after saddling Knockbrex and Etretat to victory.

By Peter Moore