King George card off again Kempton have abandoned tomorrow's meeting which was due to feature the £200,000 William Hill King George VI Chase and the £90,000 williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle. The frost from Saturday night and right into Sunday was more severe than forecast, and left Director of Racing Brian Clifford with no alternative but to call off Monday's scheduled meeting. The racecourse is now discussing with the BHA, sponsors William Hill and the Levy Board, the re-scheduling of one or more of the major William Hill Winter Festival races. A decision will be announced shortly. Clifford said: "The temperature got down to -7C overnight, a degree worse than we had been forecast. However, whereas we were forecast 1C and 2C today, it hasn't got above -2C and was still -5C in the middle of the morning. "Not only are the protective covers still frozen to the grass, there is now frost in the ground because of the longevity of these frosts. "We would need daytime temperatures tomorrow to be above zero quite early in order for the covers to be removed in time for the 11.50am start, but that just isn't going to happen. There is no chance of the frost coming out of the ground tomorrow. Milder temperatures are not arriving in time, so even a contingency of considering racing on Tuesday isn't possible. "We've done everything we can to give the William Hill Winter Festival as good a chance of being staged on Boxing Day and 27 December, but the forecast has gone against us. "Everyone is so disappointed, because so many people were looking forward to the two-day festival. The racecourse management will now work on how we re-schedule one or more of the principal races." Ante-post bets on the King George will be void if the race is reopened or is switched to a different track.
