The loss of three fixtures this week is a reminder of how easily jump racing can be disrupted by the weather and also a gentle hint that the lessons learned from the recent freeze should themselves not simply be placed into cold storage.

Following the abandonment of 35 Jump fixtures since the start of the month, the British Horseracing Authority announced an additional fixture to take place at Newcastle on Monday and applications have been invited for a further four fixtures to take place between January 29th and February 12th.

There was a time when the ability of this sport to react to events was slightly slower than the turning circle of HMS Ark Royal, but the recent cold snap showed just how much courses and the BHA can snap into action – and that trainers can respond equally well.

The all-bumper card at Southwell last week was greeted more warmly than a long-lost friend by jump trainers desperate for a place to run their horses and there was the even more ambitious plan for a card aimed at chasers and hurdlers that would have been run at Kempton Park.

In the end the snows cleared and the scheduled turf meeting took place. But the concept was clearly well received because the meeting received 392 entries and the course executive are considering plans to take the idea onto a more formal footing by setting aside some of their winter fixture dates for bumper meetings.

This will meet a need, in much the same way that all-weather racing in general does, in providing racing opportunities for the horse population without the need to usher in a return of all-weather jumping which was dropped in 1994, after a spate of horse fatalities, on safety grounds. That said, track surfaces, such as Polytrack and Tapeta, have made for huge improvements in terms of horse welfare – but is there scope for making more of the opportunity from a marketing point of view?

As was suggested here recently, why not an all-weather version of the Shergar Cup? Like that event it could be split into four teams –representing Britain, Ireland, conditional and amateur riders.

The appetite for such a meeting was partly demonstrated by the subscription for the Kempton meeting and although coverage of a full six-race card may prove problematic for Channel 4, they may well be enticed by something a little different from the normal winter fare. Well, someone could ask them anyway.

It is a given that such an event could only be viable if the turf options were wiped out, so it could not have a fixed date. That would mean that it couldn’t benefit from the sort of long-term marketing strategy that Ascot has used so adeptly for the Shergar Cup. Such a meeting would, however, benefit from being the only game in town at a time when the racing media would be desperate for something on which to focus their attention.

Anyone who has been at Ascot and watched a queue of hundreds of fans waiting for a chance to meet the jockeys at the staged autograph-signing sessions knows that it could have pulling power in terms of attendance beyond – pardon the all-weather pun – the standard fare. Also, with other sports like football and rugby likely to succumb to the weather a local marketing blitz might even attract newcomers – a group that Racing for Change is clearly seeking to connect with.   

It may not be needed every year but there are few seasons when every Saturday between New Year’s Day and the Cheltenham Festival emerges unscathed.

At a time when, through the Racing for Change programme, the sport needs to consider different ideas why not try this one?

Hopefully, if it is considered, it will not simply be given the cold shoulder.

Paul Wheeler