Racing: Armchair viewers to get taste of artificial surface

All-weather racing looks likely to form the sole diet for punters until well into next week as snow and ice grips the country.

Channel 4 have contingency plans to ensure there is live racing to televise on Saturday. In the likely event that the meeting at Sandown is frozen off, the all-weather Flat fixture at Lingfield will be covered instead.

Channel 4 Racing's executive producer, Andrew Franklin, said: "The entire team will be at Lingfield and we will present The Morning Line from there. It will be the first time we have been to Lingfield since 1985."

Prospects for Lingfield's turf card tomorrow are grim. The track will be inspected at 9.30am today, as will the day's other turf venues, Sedgefield and Towcester.