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Heavy rain at Cheltenham forces organisers to CANCEL Cross Country Chase on Wednesday… marking the first abandoned race at the festival since it was called off in 2001

  • Wednesday’s Cross Country Chase has been abandoned due to rain
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Cheltenham Festival organisers have been forced to cancel the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase on Wednesday due to a waterlogged course.

The race was scheduled for 4:10pm on day two of the festival, but was cancelled following an inspection on Wednesday morning.

The BHA and Jockey Club initially worked on a contingency plan which would see the Cross Country Chase run on Friday’s Gold Cup card in case of postponement.

But after heavy rainfall on Tuesday, they were forced to abandon the race instead.

‘Following 11mm of rainfall throughout yesterday, there has been no improvement on the conditions on the Cross Country course and with areas of the track unraceable, the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase has sadly been abandoned,’ the Jockey Club said in a statement on Wednesday morning.

Heavy rain at Cheltenham has forced the cancellation of Wednesday's Cross Country Chase

Heavy rain at Cheltenham has forced the cancellation of Wednesday’s Cross Country Chase

Over 11mm of rain fell at Cheltenham on Day One, leaving parts of the course waterlogged

Over 11mm of rain fell at Cheltenham on Day One, leaving parts of the course waterlogged

‘The forecast for the remainder of the week continues to look unsettled, with further showers likely on both Thursday and Friday.

‘There will therefore be insufficient improvement to the Cross Country course by Friday 15th March and the decision has been taken not to to reschedule the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at the festival.’

QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE ODDS 

Odds courtesy of Paddy Power

  • El Fabiolo 1/3
  • Edwardstone 6/1
  • Captain Guinness 15/2
  • Gentleman De Mee 22/1 
  • Elixir De Nutz 25/1
  • Boothill 66/1
  • Funambule Sivola 100/1 

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The cancellation marks the first time organisers have been forced to scrap a race at the Cheltenham Festival since the event was called off due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain back in 2001.

Seven years later, all six races set to be held on Day Two of the festivals – including the Queen Mother Chase – were postponed due to high winds.

The races were subsequently held over the following two days.

The track for the Cross Country Chase is different to the one the Festival’s other races are ran on and does not drain as well.

The remaining six races on Wednesday will go ahead as planned, with going conditions on the Old Course  officially described as soft, heavy in places.

As a result of the cancellation, however, the start times for the races on Day Two have been revised.

The Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle will now star at 1:45pm instead of 1:30pm as originally scheduled, with the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase pushed back from 2:10pm to 2:30pm.

The Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle has been moved from 2:50pm to 3:15pm, with the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase – the main event on Day Two – set to start 30 minutes later than scheduled at 4pm.

Meanwhile, the start times for the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase and the Weatherbys Champion Bumper are unchanged.

The races will get underway at 4:50pm and 5:30pm respectively.  

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