This afternoon’s National Hunt meeting at Uttoxeter will go ahead as scheduled after the track passed a morning inspection, but racing at the Curragh has been abandoned.

Hopes of any turf racing taking place in Britain on Saturday hinged a second precautionary check at Uttoxeter at 7.30am. An initial inspection was staged at 2pm on Friday and while there was standing water in some areas, the track was described as raceable.

Officials announced a further precautionary inspection for raceday morning and were able to give the fixture the go-ahead.

The news was not so good in Ireland, with a Curragh card due to feature the Group Three Tote.ie Alleged Stakes abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Brendan Sheridan, the IHRB clerk of the course at the Curragh, said: “Following a further four millimetres of rain in the last 24 hours, unfortunately we have to cancel the fixture scheduled at the Curragh today as parts of the track are just not fit for racing.”

The disruption could continue on Sunday, with meetings at Carlisle and Downpatrick subject to morning inspections at 7am and 7.30am respectively.

Tuesday’s Flat meeting at Navan has already been cancelled, while Hexham’s jumps card on the same day also looks in serious doubt, with officials calling an inspection for 7.30am on Sunday.

Looking even further ahead, officials at Leicester have announced an inspection for 8am on Tuesday ahead of the track’s scheduled fixture on Friday, with the course currently waterlogged and unraceable.

This afternoon’s National Hunt meeting at Warwick has become the latest victim of the current wet spell, with course officials left with no option but to abandon the fixture due to a waterlogged track.

While persistent rain continues to play havoc with the racing programme, no inspection was planned at Warwick, with only minimal rainfall forecast overnight.

However, the track posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday morning: “Following 16 millimetres of rainfall overnight and into this morning, which is a significant change from the three millimetres initially forecast, the track is now waterlogged and therefore unraceable.

“All tickets will automatically be refunded.”

Southwell’s Thursday card is set to go ahead as scheduled after the course passed a precautionary check at 7.30am, but racing at Clonmel in Ireland has been called off.

Further disruption looks likely heading into the weekend, with Friday’s meeting at Wetherby subject to a 3pm inspection this afternoon and Saturday’s Premier Raceday at Kelso also under threat.

The Borders track is due to host a high-profile card, part of which will is set to be shown live on ITV, but the ground is currently heavy, waterlogged in places and an inspection will take place at 8am on Friday to assess the latest state of play.

Further adjustments to the National Hunt programme have been “under discussion” as the British Horseracing Authority seeks to improve competitiveness within that sphere.

A total of 300 jumps races and 20 jumps meetings were removed from the 2024 fixture list as part of a package of initiatives focussed on increasing field sizes.

However, the BHA’s director of racing and betting Richard Wayman reports that while the numbers of runners for all-weather meetings on the Flat in the first three months of the year have been pleasing, National Hunt numbers have not reached similar heights.

While citing the wet winter as a possible reason for a lack of competition, Wayman admits jump racing is “short of where we want it to be”.

He said: “It is a mixed picture. If we wanted to look at it positively, on the all-weather through the winter our Flat fixtures have generated probably more competitive racing than we have had for a long time.

“If we look at the percentage of races that have attracted eight runners, you’ve got to go back to 2007 to find the sort of percentage we have achieved in the first three months of this year.

“Obviously, jumping isn’t where we want it to be and we continue to face our challenges with the competitiveness of jump racing. The numbers for jump racing on core fixtures are around 47 per cent, a little bit better at the Premier meetings but either way that is short of where we want it to be.

“I think we haven’t been helped by the ground conditions that we have faced through the first three months of this year – 78 per cent of races have been run on soft or heavy ground compared to 44 or 43 per cent in the last two years, it just demonstrates how wet it has been and that clearly will have had an impact on field sizes.

“However, it is important to stress we’re not using that as an excuse, I think that has been a factor in where we are this year but the challenges we face with jump racing competitiveness are beyond just the fact we’ve had a wet three months.

“We’ve introduced measures this year, we made changes to the programme, we took out 300 races through the year and some will have fallen in the first quarter. It is certainly under discussion whether we need to go further for 2025 in an attempt to make racing more competitive at this time next year than it has been in the last few months.

“Having said that, in our view, you can’t just keep reducing fixtures and/or races with a view to making jump racing more competitive. There are more fundamental issues that as a sport we are going to need to tackle to try to support the long-term future of jump racing.

“We are looking at that and I think we will need to introduce further measures beyond race volume to try to support the future of jump racing longer term.”

During a briefing call, the BHA’s director of communications and corporate affairs Greg Swift confirmed discussions remain ongoing with the Betting and Gaming Council over a reform of the levy, with gambling minister Stuart Andrew due to issue an update later this month.

Swift said: “Meetings are accelerated between BGC and DCMS – in fact, I had a meeting with them this morning.

“We will have at least two next week and we had two last week and there are conversations and meetings that take place outside of those formal arrangements with DCMS at which the minister is trying to bring us closer to an agreed position.

“We continue to work at pace, in good faith on all sides. We are not there yet but we will keep our shoulder to the wheel to try to get an arrangement agreed with the sports minister in time for him to update the house on April 24.”

Tomorrow’s National Hunt meeting at Southwell and Friday’s jumps card at Wetherby will need to survive inspections to go ahead.

While the Flat season is now under way, the persistent rain is playing havoc with the new campaign, with the meeting at Nottingham on Wednesday abandoned.

Catterick’s card did go ahead after passing an inspection but there is no sign of the wet weather abating and Southwell has called a precautionary check for 7.30am.

The course is currently raceable, but should more rain than the forecast showers fall overnight, then there may be an issue.

There is a jumps meeting at Warwick where the ground is heavy but no inspection is currently planned.

It is a similar story at Fontwell on Friday but at Wetherby there are “multiple areas of standing water/waterlogged ground”.

An inspection will be held at 3pm on Thursday after 7mm of rain fell on Tuesday night and a further 6mm arrived through Wednesday up to 1pm. The forecast for Thursday is mainly dry but another 11mm is forecast for Thursday night.

Kelso are also keeping an eye on the situation ahead of their Premier meeting on Saturday.

A post on social media read: “We are closely monitoring the weather conditions with regard to racing on Saturday. We will be in a better position to assess the impact of today’s rainfall by Thursday morning, when declarations will be made for Saturday’s races.”

Willie Mullins set himself apart with his 100th Cheltenham Festival victory on Wednesday – a hallmark of the trainer’s domination of the National Hunt scene.

Going into what for many is the biggest week of the year, Mullins boasted the favourites for all but a handful of the 28 races, making it something of a foregone conclusion he would break new ground with a century of wins, with just six victories required.

That the feat – which took just two of the four days – was achieved in the Champion Bumper by a horse ridden by his son, Patrick, seems fitting for a man who is the very embodiment of a racing dynasty.

The 67-year-old is the eldest of four sons and one daughter for the late trainer Paddy Mullins, the man who handled the great mare Dawn Run – the only horse to win both the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup.

His brothers Tony and Tom are also Grade One-winning trainers, while the aforementioned Patrick is a record-breaking amateur rider whose nephews include top-level jockey Danny, Grand National-winning rider David and Grand National-winning trainer Emmet, illustrating the family’s influence over both Irish and British racing.

A fervent Manchester United supporter, Mullins was a very capable amateur rider himself, riding a Festival winner aboard Wither Or Which back in 1996. But there is no doubt the best thing he ever did was hang up his saddle and concentrate fully on his training career.

It has been a series of smashed records ever since, with Mullins crowned the champion trainer in Ireland in each of the last 17 years, clicking through the number milestones with regularity, sending out his 4,000th career winner in January 2023.

Some true equine giants of the sport have passed through his hands, with Florida Pearl the first marquee name for the Closutton team, although Hedgehunter’s 2005 Grand National win propelled him onto the front pages as well as the back.

Mullins’ career has been defined by his Cheltenham domination though, with Hurricane Fly, a 22-times Grade One winner, Un De Sceaux, Douvan, Vautour, Faugheen and Annie Power all achieving superstar status in the Cotswolds.

However, the Cheltenham Gold Cup proved elusive for a long time, with six second places illustrating the difficulty of achieving jump racing’s holy grail.

But Al Boum Photo righted that wrong in 2019, before following up in 2020, with Galopin Des Champs adding a third triumph for the trainer last year and a hot favourite to make it four on Friday.

The Mullins momentum has barely been checked and he is an illustration of the old adage success breeds success, with owners clamouring to send their big-money recruits to be trained by a true genius of the sport.

Even Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary – a man not known for a lack of opinion – had to change his mind about jettisoning Mullins’ services back in 2016.

Increased training fees were mentioned as a reason at the time, but O’Leary had runners back in the yard for the first time since this season, proving that maybe you really do get what you pay for.

Patrick Mullins in fact pointed to that split as a catalyst for the yard’s exceptional success in recent years, describing how that blow drove his father forward to seek new horses, owners and staff, underlining his determination and willingness to look beyond the obvious.

Married to Jackie, the couple took part in the royal carriage procession before racing at Royal Ascot last year.

There is no doubt Mullins is out on his own at this point by any measure and while he admitted on Wednesday he would relish a bit more competition, his rivals have more than a bit of ground to make up.

Perhaps his former jockey Ruby Walsh – himself a great of the sport – put it best: “It’s awesome, an incredible achievement as a manager, because that what he is, a sporting manager.

“He is like the CEO, his wife is the CFO, his son is the managing director and he’s doing it all.”

Ruby is right – when it comes to managers, in racing terms Mullins is Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola rolled into one.

Heavy rain around the UK continues to hit this week’s National Hunt fixtures, with Sunday’s top-class card at Fontwell and Friday’s meeting at Warwick falling to the weather.

The £80,000 Grade Two Star Sports National Spirit Hurdle was to be the feature race of Fontwell’s biggest day of their centenary year.

However, persistent heavy rain has left standing water on the West Sussex venue, with 18mm falling prior to a 4pm inspection on Thursday.

Clerk of the course Philip Hide said: “The track is waterlogged and I’m seeing water lying where I’ve never seen it before.

“We just haven’t got any fresh ground to offer up to get any meaningful racing line, with a forecast for plenty more rain – although the forecast doesn’t have a lot to do with it, because it would need to improve a fair amount from where we’re at and there’s just no prospect of it happening.

“Even though I was expecting today to be wet, we’ve probably had 5mm above where I dreaded being. We had about 5mm in 25 minutes around 12 o’clock today.

“It’s an important race for us, but unfortunately, however much you want something to happen, you can’t make it happen. I couldn’t just keep going blindly forward, I’d be misleading people.

“It’s not a hard decision to make and it’s not a decision I’ll regret at any stage – I’m happy to have made it in a timely fashion, to be honest.

“Obviously, there’s a chance they might put the race on somewhere for those horses that have been waiting for it – I think Brewin’upastorm has had it as a target since winning it last year.”

Following another downpour at Warwick, the adjacent Gog Brook burst its bank and left the course unraceable due to waterlogging.

Officials quickly decided there would not be sufficient improvement ahead of raceday and called an early halt to proceedings.

A precautionary inspection has also been scheduled for 8am ahead of Exeter’s jumps meeting on Friday.

After 10.5mm of rain fell on Thursday morning, the ground was described as heavy but raceable, although the last hurdle in the backstraight is being omitted.

The prospect of further showers has forced officials to take another look at conditions in the morning.

Thursday’s meeting at Huntingdon was called off due to a waterlogged track, but prospects for Saturday’s big jumps meetings are more encouraging.

The Premier Raceday fixture at Kempton, which features the £150,000 Coral Trophy Handicap Chase and a trio of Grade Two events, is set to be staged on going that is soft, heavy in places.

There has been plenty of rain in the Surrey area but the forecast is for sunshine and showers on Friday and Saturday.

Newcastle’s Eider Chase card is currently set to be run on ground described as heavy, soft in places.

Gosforth Park received less rain than expected over the last two days and a bright and breezy day is forecast for Friday.

Temperatures could drop to around zero for a short time at night, bringing the possibility of a light frost, but raceday has a predcited low risk of showers through the afternoon, with a light breeze and highs of 7C.

There will be no National Hunt racing in Britain on Tuesday after scheduled fixtures at both Chepstow and Plumpton were abandoned due to frozen ground.

An 8am inspection was called ahead of racing at Chepstow, but with temperatures dipping just below minus 6C overnight officials were able to make an early call.

It was a similar story at Plumpton, where frost sheets deployed across the whole courses were not enough to save the day.

An inspection was scheduled for 8.30am, but the decision was made at around 6am to draw stumps, with temperatures in Sussex also getting down to minus 6C.

Thursday’s jumps meeting at Newcastle has already been called off following a Tuesday morning inspection, while Fairyhouse’s card on the same day is subject to a noon inspection on Wednesday, with the course declared unfit for racing on Tuesday morning.

Brendan Sheridan, IHRB Clerk of the Course, said: “Ahead of declarations this morning for racing on Thursday, the track is currently unfit for racing due to overnight frost.

“Parts of the track are frozen following two nights of low temperatures, with last night getting down to at least minus 3C.

“We don’t have the most favourable forecast with temperatures only rising to a high of 2C for a couple of hours today before dropping again tonight back to minus 3C.

“In light of that forecast and due to the current ground conditions, we will have a 12pm inspection on Wednesday to assess the prospects of racing here at Fairyhouse on Thursday.”

The Christmas racing programme is always stuffed full of thrills, but this year sees any number of National Hunt heavyweights poised to take a starring role. We look forward to five of the most eyecatching contests in prospect over the next few days.

Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, Kempton, December 26

The Christmas showpiece is always an event to savour, but this year’s contest offers a level of intrigue, too. The Paul Nicholls-trained Bravemansgame beat the reopposing Royale Pagaille by 14 lengths in 2022, before going on to chase home Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This season has not gone to plan so far though, with defeats in both the Charlie Hall and Betfair Chase – in which he was beaten by Venetia Williams’ Royale Pagaille – putting a slight question mark over his claims. Shishkin definitely has to answer a question after he refused to race at Ascot on his seasonal bow, leaving the Willie Mullins-trained Allaho seemingly in pole position. An impressive winner at Clonmel on his return from a 561-day injury lay-off, there is no doubting the Irish raider’s class, but can he avoid the dreaded ‘bounce’ factor in Sunbury?

Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle, Kempton, December 26

After the weather put a spanner in the works, Nicky Henderson will finally take the wraps off reigning two-mile champ Constitution Hill at Kempton. After a sterling novice season, the six-year-old made a seamless switch to full company and a 17-length win in this contest preceded a demolition job in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham back in March. It will only be a small field at Kempton, with none of the contenders anywhere near Constitution Hill’s class, so if everything goes to plan, we will not learn too much – but we can hopefully enjoy a true superstar in action.

Racing Post Novice Chase, Leopardstown, December 26

Facile Vega was a headline horse even before he set foot on a track. A son of six-times Festival winner Quevega, by top-ranked jumps sire Walk In The Park, it was little surprise to see the Mullins-trained gelding cut a swathe through the bumper ranks before continuing his effortless progress in his first two starts over hurdles. The wheels came off in dramatic style at the Dublin Racing Festival though, when he raced with the choke out and stopped quickly, before having to settle for second best at Cheltenham and getting back on track at Punchestown. He emerged victorious on his chasing bow, but his jumping was certainly not flawless and it will be interesting to see if he is up to the task in tougher company.

Coral Welsh Grand National Handicap Chase, Chepstow, December 27

The withdrawal of ante-post favourite Monbeg Genius prompted a market shake-up, with Jamie Snowden’s Super Survivor assuming the position at the top of the betting for what is one of the first real markers for the Grand National in April. Iwilldoit won the Welsh edition in 2021 and was among the leading lights for Aintree back in April but could not complete the qualifying criteria in time. A victory in this race would surely thrust him back into the spotlight, though it will be a tough test under top-weight in what is usually testing conditions at Chepstow, with the likes of recent Becher Chase winner Chambard in the mix.

Savills Chase, Leopardstown, December 28

This looks like being a proper Christmas blockbuster, with no less than three Cheltenham Gold Cup hopes set to cross swords. We have the reigning champion, Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs, facing up to his nemesis in Martin Brassil’s Fastorslow. A shock 20-1 winner in the Punchestown Gold Cup, Fastorslow proved that was no flash in the pan when beating Galopin Des Champs into third in the John Durkan on their respective returns. Add into the mix Gerri Colombe, rerouted from Kempton by Gordon Elliott due to concerns about the quicker King George ground. Beaten just once as a novice, he was merely workmanlike in winning Down Royal’s Champion Chase on his reappearance, so this could be something of an acid test for the young pretender.

Today’s National Hunt meeting at Warwick has been abandoned but the jumps card at Newcastle survived an early-morning inspection.

Clerk of the course Tom Ryall had expressed concerns about waterlogging at Warwick after persistent rain had put the whole town on flood alert.

His fears proved warranted, with this afternoon’s fixture called off due to unsafe ground on parts of the course.

There was better news at Newcastle, where racing is scheduled to go ahead following a second inspection this morning.

Officials took a look at the track yesterday afternoon due to areas of standing water earlier in the week but it was deemed raceable.

The same view was taken this morning, although “conditions will continue to be closely monitored”.

Having lost their Fighting Fifth Hurdle card at the start of the month due to snow, today’s going is described as heavy, with a low risk of early showers before the weather should brighten up.

There will also be jumps racing at Taunton, where the ground is soft, good to soft in places, plus an all-weather Flat card at Chelmsford this evening.