Where there’s a will, there’s usually relatives. So goes the old joke but this weekend there is likely to be action for jump racing one way or another.

The BHA are not always cast in the most favourable of lights but they have unveiled plans which at least show a degree of flexibility in thinking and a will for compromise solutions that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago.

At present there are Saturday meetings scheduled for Kempton Park, Warwick and Wetherby and, of the three, only Kempton has a realistic chance of racing but the BHA are considering adding emergency fixtures at Musselburgh and Fontwell as both courses look better-placed to race.

However, even if Kempton’s Lanzarote Hurdle card fails to pass its Wednesday morning inspection, there could still be jumps trainers saddling runners there on Saturday. Instead of following the normal practise of adding another Flat card the BHA has programmed a provisional seven-race National Hunt Flat card specifically aimed at chasers and hurdlers, plus one standard National Hunt Flat race.

Normally, under the Rules of Racing, horses who have run in chases or hurdles are ineligible to run in National Hunt Flat races, otherwise known as bumpers. But extraordinary times call for equal measures and, having surveyed the depth of the problem, the BHA has modified the Rules in order to trial this initiative.

The turf course at Kempton is currently snow-covered and frozen in places so, if it is abandoned, this provisional card can slot into its place. Entries for the races will close at noon on Wednesday, with declarations to be made by 10am on Friday and, after the heavy subscription for the all-bumper card at Southwell tomorrow, there is unlikely to be any shortage of takers for this chance to run.

Nicky Henderson, who was left with a juggling act between his three star hurdlers – Punjabi, Binocular and Zaynar – with the news that the abandoned Welsh Champion Hurdle will not be rescheduled, was already pondering his options. “I’m totally supportive of any initiative that’s for the benefit of racing and in the absence of jumps opportunities this is the next best thing. I’m almost certain to have runners if the turf meeting is abandoned and I wouldn’t rule out running one of our top horses if there is a suitable race.”

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls was another trainer who gave the initiative his full backing. “I spoke to the Racing Department this morning about the details of creating such a fixture and if we lose jump racing again on Saturday,” he said, “It will be an ideal opportunity to get a number of horses back on the racecourse.

“We’ve been waiting for a chance to get American Trilogy back out and I would have him in mind to run before he goes back over hurdles in the spring.”

The people that came up with this venture are travelling into unknown territory but Stuart Middleton, the BHA’s racing manager, feels confident that the fixture, if needed, will work. “Some of the race conditions are quite open and it is anyone’s guess as to what kind of entry we will receive,” he said.

“That said, these are difficult times for all in the industry and we didn’t think we really had much to lose.  It will be a useful exercise and we’ll know after Saturday whether it is something that we might want to do again in the future.  All races are free to enter, so hopefully trainers will approach it with an open mind and make plenty of entries.”

In the days when Barney Clifford was riding as a jump jockey a January like this would have left him waiting for a thaw. Now, as director of racing at Kempton Park, he will preparing the Polytrack surface differently to accommodate National Hunt-type horses as opposed to the Flat horses who normally race there.  

 “Our aim is to provide ground that reflects between good and good to soft on turf. To achieve this we will be power harrowing to a depth of 8cm, so the official going will be standard to slow,” he said.

If nothing else it proves that the powers in racing have the will to change.

Paul Wheeler