Newcastle faces inspection and Leicester off Newcastle’s Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle card will be subject to an inspection on Saturday morning because of the threat of frost. Clerk of the course James Armstrong reported via Twitter that temperatures may drop to as low as -4c overnight. Frost sheets are already in place, on ground described as heavy after 15mm of rain on Wednesday and Thursday. Waterlogging has, meanwhile, forced the abandonment of Sunday’s card at Leicester. That course failed an early-morning inspection on Friday and therefore became the second to lose its fixture this weekend, with Doncaster’s Saturday meeting already cancelled at waterlogged Town Moor. Carlisle’s card, the only one remaining in Britain on Sunday, is also under threat from frost — and an inspection will be held to assess conditions at 1pm on Saturday, with overnight temperatures forecast to dip to -2c.
