THURSDAY'S Welsh National meeting at Chepstow has been abandoned due to a waterlogged track with the entire card being rescheduled for January 5.
Clerk of the course Keith Ottesen called a 12 noon inspection on Christmas Eve and with further rain forecast, he was left with little option but to call off the meeting.
However, the fixture, which was due to feature the Coral-sponsored marathon, will now be run on Saturday week.
Ottesen said: "We needed some periods of dry weather between the rain. It didn't rain yesterday, but we still wouldn't have been fit to race.
"The Welsh National is one of the most testing races of the year and we have to make sure it is fair and safe to the horses, which it wouldn't have been."
He added: "We have rescheduled for January 5 and the Finale Hurdle will now be worth an extra £5,500 as the value was due to move up from 2012 to 2013.
"All the details about entries for the Welsh National will be available as soon as possible."
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