Walsh delighted at ‘get out of jail card’

RUBY Walsh has come in for the plum ride on Zarkandar in Saturday’s Betfair Hurdle after a change to the Newbury card which allows the rider to defer a suspension that originally ruled him out of action this weekend.

Paul Nicholls’ No 1 jockey picked up a three-day ban at Cheltenham last month and as there was originally no Grade One race on the ‘Betfair Super Saturday’ card, he was set to be on the sidelines. However, after the BHA announced that the Grade One Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase would be transferred from last Saturday’s abandoned Sandown card to this weekend’s fixture at Newbury, BHA rules state Walsh can defer his ban on days where Grade One races are run.

Champion trainer Nicholls said on his Twitter account: “After discussing with owners Ruby now switches to Zarkandar and Daryl Jacob rides Empire Levant.”

Walsh was thrilled with the news, taking to Twitter and saying: “Looking like I have got a get out of jail card for Saturday! Grade 1 Scilly Isles is my ticket to at least take part. Happy days.”

Newbury clerk of the course Richard Osgood is hopeful the freezing conditions will have abated by the weekend and said the ground was currently good to soft, soft in places. “We’ve kept a whole lot of fresh ground for the meeting,” he said. “With the rain and snow, we had around 11 millimetres in the last week and the fleeces covering the track absorb the moisture so it steadily drips through. We will leave the covers on until Saturday.”

Freezing temperatures are continuing to cause problems for National Hunt racing ahead of one of the most crucial weekends of the season so far.

The cold snap set in last week and had already claimed a number of meetings, with snow that fell during Saturday worsening matters. Everyone involved with the sport will be praying for a break in the weather ahead of Newbury, which is set to showcase the talents of the likes of Long Run and Sprinter Sacre.

All-weather fare at Southwell and Wolverhampton makes up today’s programme after both Market Rasen and Sedgefield were abandoned.

Lingfield’s meeting tomorrow has already fallen by the wayside. Carlisle’s meeting on the same day survived a 2pm inspection yesterday but will check again at 8am today. Ludlow will also check at the same time ahead of their scheduled fixture tomorrow.