With many fixtures falling victim to the cold weather in the UK and Ireland over the last week, the British Horseracing Authority have announced the rescheduling of some major races.
Most notably, the Grade 1 Clarence House Chase, originally to be held at Ascot on 19 December, has been rescheduled to Cheltenham's Trials Day meeting on 27 January. The contest will re-open for entries and close on 22 January, as per the rest of the card.
Saturday's Grade 2 Mares Warfield Hurdle (Ascot) and the Grade 2 Rossington Main Novices' Hurdle (Haydock) will be both be moved to Doncaster on the same weekend – with the Rossington held on Saturday 27 January and the Warfield on Sunday 28 January.
Tom Byrne, Head of Racing and Betting at the BHA, said: "We are grateful to Cheltenham, Doncaster and Market Rasen for agreeing to host these races and to the Levy Board for their funding support. We hope that retaining these opportunities is welcomed by fans of the sport as well as the connections of all the possible contenders..
"When rescheduling, there are often questions regarding the reduced prize money values the races are subsequently run for. Where a race is added to a pre-existing card at a different racecourse, there are usually significant challenges for that new venue, including the limited time to secure sponsorship support, changing ITV coverage and existing prize money commitments.
"Therefore, a combination of additional Levy Board and BHA prize money funds are utilised to support the Racecourse Executive contribution and entry fees to run these races at as high a value as possible. This is usually below the original value due to the limited nature of those additional central funds.
"The alternative would likely be to not reschedule these races at all and so where it is still considered in the overall best interests of customers and participants, we always look to do so."
