THE CONTINUING freezing weather conditions that have decimated Ireland’s racing programme for the last month are stretching jockeys and trainers to the limit and making a return to action some time over Christmas all the more vital.

The news that all of Ireland’s St Stephen’s Day fixtures have been cancelled is just the latest blow to racing professionals throughout the country.

Last week’s “Winter Festival” programme at Fairyhouse was a rare piece of action that saw many of the country’s top riders make an impact.

But for those middle-rankers of the jockeys’ room the weather has been a constant threat to much-needed income.

“The top few lads have made plenty but there are a lot of lads living day to day, with mortgage payments and car repayments, and it is not easy. For a lot of us, our income has just stopped,” veteran Barry Cash said yesterday.

“On days when there isn’t racing, there’s always the chance to make a few quid schooling or riding out, but there’s nothing there now. Everything has just stopped. Schooling started for a about a week there but that’s gone again,” he added.

Cash’s professional career has lasted for more than 13 years and includes top-flight success on the former champion hurdler Brave Inca. In 2004, Cash rode the Colm Murphy-trained star to a memorable Cheltenham success over War Of Attrition in the Supreme Novices Hurdle.

However, he admits he has never seen the weather take such a grip on racing. Cash lives near Maynooth, where almost a foot of snow is lying, and he admits that if it wasn’t for a 4x4 jeep, getting around would be difficult. But being able to move horses right now is the real priority for trainers.

Conor O’Dwyer, who rode War Of Attrition in that famous Cheltenham clash with Cash and Brave Inca six years ago, is now facing the challenge of training near the Curragh, Co Kildare, which has been badly hit by snow, and the mundane logistics of getting his stables to function is the former jockey’s current priority.

“We have literally one tap for water in the whole yard,” he said yesterday. “Everything else has frozen. But at least we have the one and we can fill up barrels and get the jobs done. But it is hard work, a real nuisance, and makes everyone’s working day so much longer.

“It’s hard on everyone. In fairness, all the lads here live locally and they’ve all been able to make it in. But it’s hard on owners too. They’re paying the bills and they want to race. I know they realise there’s nothing anybody can do about this, but still it is difficult for them,” he added.

A “make-do” spirit is keeping many racing operations on the road, and there is unanimous praise for the efforts of the Curragh ground-staff who are managing to keep all-weather gallops open at HQ.

“The staff there are working 24/7, and if you can get to those gallops, they are open and in good condition,” O’Dwyer states.

“But unless you’re first there, all you can do is a nice canter. There’s no chance of really working them. So you don’t really know where you are with the horses in terms of if they’re fit or not.”

The pressure racing professionals are under was emphasised on Tuesday when top jockeys Davy Russell and Robbie Power appealed against four-day suspensions at the Turf Club.

Part of their appeal centred on their solicitor’s argument that their income had been seriously compromised over the last month and that missing out on Leopardstown’s Grade One opportunities would be very costly to them.

Jockeys also have to contend with the problem of inactivity with minding their weight.

“It’s hard to get motivated to use a sauna or get in a bath to sweat when there’s no racing,” Cash said. “Everyone has to let it go sometime and when you haven’t sweated for a while, it can be a real struggle to start again.”

Even that prospect, however, isn’t stopping everyone within racing from willing a thaw to come in time to save the Christmas festival cards. With so much racing usually on offer, it offers rare opportunities for those riders not in the limelight.

“Hopefully it will all be back soon,” Cash laughed. “And we’ll all be able to get a few quid.”