Weather wipes out Saturday's race meeting

Prince Harry's visit to Newbury Racecourse cancelled after Saturday's racing programme cancelled due to bad weather

BAD weather has forced the cancellation of a prestigious day of racing at Newbury Racecourse tomorrow (Saturday), along with a planned visit by Prince Harry.

Prince Harry had been due to visit the racecourse for tomorrow's Betfair Super Saturday to present a special trophy and help raise funds for charity.

The racecourse issued the following statement this morning (Fri):

"Newbury Racecourse has announced the abandonment of racing ahead of tomorrow's fixture, Betfair Super Saturday.

With overnight snowfall and temperatures predicted to fall to -7C this evening, following an inspection of the racecourse this morning by the racecourse management the decision was made to abandon the fixture.

Following the announcement, Newbury Racecourse, The BHA, The Levy Board will enter into discussions on the possibility of the re-staging of some races.

Stephen Higgins, Managing Director, Racing and Events commented “Following significant snowfall on Thursday night, and following an inspection of the course this morning and with temperatures predicted to plummet this evening the decision has been made to abandon tomorrows fixture. This is an important fixture in the racing calendar and we will be entering into talks with the BHA, The Levy Board and Betfair on the possible re-staging of some of the races”.

The Prince's press officer, Nick Loughran, also confirmed this morning (Friday) that Prince Harry would not be attending, as the races had been cancelled.

As a patron of the Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) charity, after he joined a team of injured soldiers on a trek to the North Pole last year, he was due to be joined tomorrow by another team of injured soldiers from the charity who will be attempting to climb Mount Everest in May.

To help raise recognition for WWTW, Prince Harry was scheduled to present the winning trophy after the second race on Saturday, re-named by Betfair as the ‘Betfair Supports Walking With The Wounded Handicap Hurdle', which was scheduled for broadcast live on Channel 4 television.

He was also scheduled to spend time with the 2012 Everest Summit Team - five wounded servicemen including Captain Martin Hewitt and Private Jaco van Gass, whom Prince Harry spent four days trekking to the North Pole with last April in a bid to help raise £2m for the charity, which assists with the re-training and re-education of servicemen and women, both veterans and those leaving the Armed Forces.

The team became the first group of unsupported war-wounded amputees to reach the Geographical North Pole.

South African born team member, 25-year-old Pte van Gass, whose arm was amputed after he was hit by a grenade in Afghanstan, had this week told Newburytoday.co.uk that he had been looking forward to his first visit to Newbury.

Recalling his North Pole expedition, Pte van Gass said Prince Harry had proved an invaluable team mate, whose presence had lifted their spirits.

“He was easy to get along with,” he said, adding that the first few days of the expedition had proved really tough.

”It was so vast, and there was no-where in the world we could have trained for the terrain.”

Refund Policy to Racegoers

Racegoers who have purchased raceday tickets or hospitality are advised to post their tickets, with a covering letter including full details to the racecourse and a full refund will be processed. Newbury Racecourse requests the racegoers are patient with the refunding of their tickets and they will be aimed to be processed within 14 days.

Please visit newbury-racecourse.co.uk for full details on refund and abandonment policy.