THE Welsh Grand National has been rescheduled after today’s abandonment.

Chepstow Racecourse announced the meeting was abandoned earlier this morning after an inspection following Storm Bella.

With Storm Bella bringing 27mm of rain and waterlogging a section of the course, adding to more than 200mm of rainfall during December, it was deemed that a section of false ground in the back straight was impassable and unfit for racing.

The new date for the Coral Welsh Grand National 2020 is Saturday, January 9, 2021.

It will still be a seven-race card, which will be identical to the one that was due for today. All horses will have to be re-entered with the closing at midday on Monday, January 4. There is an exception for the Coral Welsh Grand National race where entries will revert to the horses entered at the Weights Published stage. As normal, declarations for all races will be at the 48-hour stage.

MORE NEWS:

The Coral Welsh Grand National and the Coral Finale Hurdle will be shown live on ITV4 on January 9 along with races from Kempton and Wincanton.

Race conditions, times and other fixture information will be available on the BHA Racing Admin site from Wednesday, December 29 www2.racingadmin.co.uk.

Chepstow Racecourse executive director Phil Bell said: “It is extremely disheartening that after such a significant volume of rain in December, it proved too much for one section of the course to cope with. The rest of the trach was raceable. The timing of Storm Bella couldn’t have been worse for us.

“However. We are looking forward to the re-scheduled fixture on Saturday, January 9. We’d like to thank the British Horseracing Authority, Horserace Betting Levy Board, ITV and our sponsors Coral for working together on the revised date.”

Simon Clare, Ladbrokes Coral PR Director said: “Whilst deeply frustrating that Storm Bella has scuppered our plans today, we have immediately focused on what we can control, which is the rescheduling of this important race meeting.

“The Chepstow team have a well-honed contingency plan in place, as this will be the fifth time since 2010 that we have rescheduled the race in January. The Coral Welsh Grand National is one of the biggest betting races of the jump season, and has huge national significance for Wales as its most prestigious horse race, so it is important that we get the meeting on for everyone concerned.”