HORSE RACING: Huntingdon aiming to beat the snow

Grand National entry Minella Daddy (left) could be running at Huntingdon.

The number of racing fixtures abandoned due to snow and ice since Tuesday is already into double figures.

Annual members at all those racecourses affected – from Kelso in Scotland to Taunton in the West Country - are being invited free of charge to the Cambridgeshire racecourse’s Family Fun Day on Sunday (March 4) which features the 188Bet Cambridgeshire National, the longest race in the track’s calendar.

It’s a bumper day of jump racing and fun, with Chase and Marshall from PAW Patrol making personal appearances at intervals throughout the afternoon.

Liam Johnson, General Manager at Huntingdon Racecourse, said: “It’s been a hugely frustrating time for the racing industry and its followers, with many meetings called off because of the wintry blast.

“At Huntingdon, the whole team is working as hard as possible to get Sunday’s meeting on. Of course, we are in the hands of the weather gods as well, but we’ll do all we can and we’re inviting annual members from all those racecourses which have lost fixtures this week to visit us free of charge.”

Main Enclosure admission for adults on Sunday is £12 when purchased in advance. Accompanied under 18s enter free of charge. Tickets can be purchased at http://huntingdon.thejockeyclub.co.uk or on 0844 579 3007. The first race is at 2pm, with gates opening at 12 noon.

Hospitality and restaurant packages are available at all the racecourse’s fixtures for visitors wishing to make their trip extra special. Prices start at £61 per person for Sunday.

Randox Health Grand National prospect Minella Daddy could warm up for Aintree by going for the 188Bet Cambridgeshire National.

Seventeen horses have been entered for the three and three-quarter mile contest and trainers will decide tomorrow which of them will run.

Minella Daddy, trained in Wales by Peter Bowen, is the highest rated horse among the 17 and he could be taken on by another Aintree Grand National entrant Alfie Spinner, who was runner-up in the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow just under two months ago.