Racing: War fatality ends all-weather jumping

ANOTHER death on an all- weather track yesterday was one too many and the British Horseracing Board acted swiftly last night to announce that there will be no more jump racing on sand this season. Four fixtures have been cancelled to allow 'breathing space to determine the future of all-weather hurdling', the BHB said.

Yesterday's death, of War Beat in the opener at Lingfield, brought the toll on all-weather tracks to 13 since the start of the year. But, as the BHB statement indicates: 'there is no certainty that this particular death was attributable to running in an all-weather hurdle race.'

War Beat, a six-year-old gelding trained by Brian Baugh near Stoke-On-Trent, was six lengths clear when falling at the last and is believed to have suffered a haemorrhage approaching the flight. His carcass was taken to the Animal Health Trust's laboratories for an autopsy.

Jumping errors, but no fatalities, determined the outcome of Wincanton's Cheltenham trials. See More Indians and Valfinet were the beneficiaries from mistakes by Another Coral in the Jim Ford Chase and Royal Derbi in the Kingwell Hurdle. Neither winner impressed and Coral pushed out Valfinet to 50- 1 for the Champion Hurdle.

Tomorrow's Greenalls Gold Cup will be switched to Kempton if there is no thaw at (abandoned today) Haydock.