Navan hopeful for Sunday Navan is hopeful their meeting on Sunday, which features the Grade 1 Navan Novice Hurdle (formerly known as the Barry & Sandra Kelly Memorial), can go ahead as scheduled. Darren Lawlor, manager at the Co.Meath track, said this lunchtime: “We have about four inches of snow on the track at present but the forecast is giving us a chance for Sunday.” “We had a little thaw on Saturday but it's pretty foggy here today which means we are currently getting no thaw of consequence. We could also catch the tail end of some more snow this evening.” “However on the positive side the temperatures are forecast to rise considerably from Thursday onwards and, with a little bit of luck, I'm hopeful that we could be able to race. I certainly hope so as it is a really good card.” “From what we can see the covering of snow on the course is acting like a blanket and means the ground is not frozen underneath.” Looking further ahead if Navan does beat the cold snap on Sunday, Lawlor does not envisage any problems with the track holding a two-day meeting the following weekend (December 18-19). “We had prepared some fresh ground for an extra meeting last Wednesday (December 1) which was lost to the weather. We should be fine for the following weekend with that fresh strip but of course what happens with the weather is out of our hands,” added Lawlor.
