Cheltenham blown off course

Wednesday afternoon's meeting at the Cheltenham Festival has been abandoned in the interests of safety.

Officials made the startling announcement after another morning of high winds and intense gusts at Prestbury Park.

All six races due to take place on Wednesday, including the feature Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase, will instead be staged on Thursday and Friday.

An official Cheltenham statement read: "We have a weather forecast for today that predicts extremely strong winds over the next six or seven hours with a high degree of certainty. On that basis we have made the decision to abandon racing for today.

"The forecast for Thursday and Friday is much calmer and the races abandoned will be rescheduled to be run on Thursday and Friday on extended cards, with a first race time of 12.30pm."

Ticket holders for Wednesday's card will receive a 100% refund, but those tickets will not be valid on Thursday or Friday.

The statement added: "There will be tickets on sale for all three enclosures tomorrow, using a higher capacity of 65,000. Friday is sold out."