RACING NEWS ROUND-UP:A COMPLETE St Stephen's Day blank in Ireland has provoked the racing authorities here into preparing a number of emergency contingency plans, one of which could see a spectacular Grade One card next Thursday if Leopardstown's entire Christmas programme is wiped out by the weather.

Leopardstown postponed its St Stephen’s Day programme yesterday due to the big freeze, with the Co Dublin course transferring that card to this day week, December 30th.

Limerick was forced to abandon its Sunday meeting yesterday when hopes of a thaw on Christmas Day were ruled out by an adverse forecast.

Ireland’s other December 26th programme, at Down Royal, had been postponed to the 30th on Tuesday, resulting in a rare St Stephen’s white-out that had Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) in improvise-mode.

HRI unveiled three contingency plans should racing not go ahead at Leopardstown, either on Monday, Tuesday, or if the entire December 26th-29th festival should be cancelled due to the freeze.

If that worst-case scenario unfolds, and racing is possible on the Thursday, then all the Grade One Christmas festival features will be run on one spectacular card, along with the €190,000 Paddy Power Chase and the Grade Two Woodies Christmas Hurdle.

Should this Monday be called off, then the valuable Paddy Power races, including the Dial-A-Bet Chase, will be moved to the Wednesday card, which features the December Festival Hurdle.

If Monday and Tuesday go, but racing is possible on Wednesday, then the Paddy Power races, and the big Festival Hurdle, will take place alongside the Lexus Chase and the Fort Leney Chase.

It’s a huge piece of logistical juggling that could yet have to be rolled out, as the forecast Christmas thaw keeps getting put back by Met Éireann.

Leopardstown’s authorities are not now expecting the start of a thaw until Sunday.

Eight inches of snow lay on the South Dublin track yesterday, resulting in a quick cancellation of the St Stephen’s Day fixture, and increasing doubts about whether racing will be possible on Monday.

“Realistically, a lot of things need to go in our favour if we’re to race on Monday,” said Leopardstown manager Tom Burke. “We’re just hoping the forecast will help us this time. But we are very dependant on that.”

“We are pinning our hopes on a thaw. There has been a lot of toing-and-froing in the forecasts and we need it to come right for us,” he added.

It is 15 years since Leopardstown last failed to race on St Stephen’s Day. In 1995, the only Christmas racing at the track took place on New Year’s Eve with a composite meeting of the festival’s best races.

Limerick had been hopeful of racing on St Stephen’s Day but a drastic change in the forecast gave the course no chance of thawing out in time.

“We were told to expect temperatures of plus three or four on Christmas Day. Now we’re being told minus three or four,” said course manager Russell Ferris.

“If the forecast is correct now, and we get a thaw on the Sunday, with temperatures rising to nine degrees on the 27th, then we should be fine for Monday.

“But we need 24 hours of a thaw and we need the forecast to be accurate,” he added.

Two races, including the Grade Two Greenmount Novice Chase, have been transferred from Limerick’s Sunday card to the Wednesday.