Warwick has abandoned its National Hunt meeting scheduled for 30 September because of unsuitably fast ground, as dry conditions prompt a wider reshaping of the early-autumn jumps programme.
The disruption includes Chepstow’s three-day Welsh Festival, which will now be staged as an all-hurdle meeting after the course concluded that its chase track could not be prepared in suitable condition. The BHA has also moved races between Chepstow, Worcester and Ffos Las, while Ludlow has called off its 7 October season-opening fixture.
Warwick clerk of the course Nessie Chanter said the decision to abandon the meeting had been taken early because the course’s priority was to provide safe and suitable ground for participants. She said a recent fixture had prevented watering on the raceday and the following day, when repairs to the track were required.
According to Chanter, the dry weather, following a prolonged hot and dry summer, had left Warwick able to maintain its existing ground conditions but unable to improve them with its available watering capacity. She said the decision followed a review of the previous fixture, consultation with the BHA and consideration of feedback from participants, alongside an unusually dry and hot forecast for the end of September.
Warwick’s attention will now turn to its next scheduled raceday on 3 November, Chanter said, with the course seeking to provide the best possible conditions for the remainder of the 2026-27 season.
Chepstow festival switches to hurdles
Chepstow’s Welsh Festival, due to take place over three days in early October, will retain its featured Persian War Novices’ Hurdle on the Friday and the Welsh Champion Hurdle on the Sunday. However, all races at the meeting will be run over hurdles because the chase course cannot be made fit in time.
The resulting programme changes will see Worcester stage an all-chase card on 12 October and Ffos Las do the same on 14 October. Hurdle races originally scheduled for those fixtures will instead be transferred to Chepstow.
The revised arrangement is intended to keep hurdle and chase racing taking place on the most suitable available ground across the affected courses, rather than asking Chepstow’s chase course to host races in conditions the track has judged unsuitable.
Tom Byrne, the BHA’s head of racing, said the changes were significant for this stage of the season but were designed as a package to provide an appropriate jumping programme in the coming weeks. He said the authority was trying to ensure that both hurdle and fence races took place on the best ground available, and thanked Ludlow and ARC for supporting the interventions.
Ludlow abandonment adds to pressure
Ludlow has separately abandoned its first meeting of the new season, scheduled for 7 October. Managing director Simon Sherwood said the course had spent recent weeks hoping for substantial rainfall, but had reached the point at which it could not defer the decision any longer.
Sherwood said additional watering would not have sufficiently changed the conditions and that the course had sought advice from agronomists during the process. Worcester will stage an additional meeting on the date Ludlow had been due to race.
The run of cancellations and race transfers shows the immediate practical effect of the continuing lack of significant rain on the jumps calendar. The revised cards change the venues scheduled to host hurdle and chase races in early October, while the BHA and racecourses continue to prioritise the condition of the ground.
Byrne said further weekly updates were likely as the BHA continued to work with racecourses and participants amid the lack of rain.