Cheltenham beats the freeze but Catterick off This afternoon's meeting at Cheltenham, along with those across channel at Exeter and Fakenham, go ahead after passing morning inspections. However the fixture at Catterick has been abandoned. Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse had taken the precaution of covering the track earlier in the week and despite temperatures dropping below freezing on a few occasions, the venue is fit to race. Cheltenham's Andy Clifton said, 'Racing goes ahead as scheduled. The temperature dropped to minus two overnight but there are no problems and the ground is good to soft.' 'We didn't have the luckiest of years in 2008 with the weather but it's nice to get 2009 off to a good start.' Catterick abandoned their New Year's Day meeting after the track failed to pass an 8am inspection. Clerk of the course Fiona Needham was left with no option but to call off the fixture following an overnight frost. 'We got down to minus four overnight and we are still below freezing now. We are not forecast to get above freezing until 2pm, so we have had to abandon,' she said.
