WETHERBY raced last Saturday and the feature handicap chase proved very dramatic, as the Tony McCoy-ridden Bold Henry crashed out at the final fence leaving Firth Of The Clyde and Brian Hughes clear, and a welcome winner for Malton trainer Malcolm Jefferson.

Afterwards, albeit happy, the trainer said: "We were lucky. I don't know what would have happened but we will tell the handicapper we would have been third! But Firth Of The Clyde was running a good race and he was finishing well."

There was a smart performance in the concluding bumper when Sherry made the perfect start to her racing career, coming home clear for Middleham trainer Micky Hammond who was on hand, saying: "She had worked nicely with our filly who won at Sedgefield in the week but she was open to a good deal of improvement and she will improve."

Kelso raced on Sunday and the ultra consistent Donna's Diamond took the novices hurdle for Chris Grant, staying on well in the testing conditions.

Later in the afternoon, Medicine Hat looked unlikely to win the juvenile hurdle until the favourite Scrafton jinked close home and left the George Moore inmate to land the prize in the hands of the inform Joe Colliver.

The County is taking a battering with wind and rain this week, but hopefully conditions won't be too bad at Ascot tomorrow as we may see the return of the superstar Sprinter Sacre.

Nicky Henderson will delay his final participation decision "until the last possible moment".

The brilliant nine-year-old has not been seen in competitive action since suffering a well-documented heart problem at Kempton in December 2013, but connections are keen to see him return to the fray at Ascot on Saturday.

Henderson is, however, concerned about running his stable star in ultra-testing conditions.

He said: "We'll have to leave it until the last possible moment. I'd like to leave it until Saturday morning.

"We have to declare on Thursday morning, which is a bore, as it doesn't give us the luxury of seeing what the weather is going to do on Thursday and Friday.

"I'm desperately keen to try and run him this weekend, I must admit, but the forecast at the moment is horrific and we're just starting to get a bit nervous about it."

Henderson warned Sprinter Sacre is very unlikely to line up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival if he does not run beforehand.

Connections are wary that the ground is unlikely to be any more suitable if he is held back for the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on February 7.

The Seven Barrows said: "You could say you'd wait for the Game Spirit, but what are the chances of getting better ground?

"This weather isn't going to be any better next week, or the week after, and the Game Spirit is at the beginning of February.

Asked whether he could go straight to Cheltenham, Henderson said: "No. He'd need a run. I think he has to have a run.

"You can do that (go straight to Cheltenham), but he hasn't had a run since the issue at Kempton.

"I think he's got to have a race to give himself the belief that everything is 100 per cent.

"With his work at home, I'm sure it is."

Haydock are also touch and go ahead of tomorrow's meeting which features the appearance of The New One in the StanJames.com Champion Hurdle Trial.

The Merseyside course was raceable on Wednesday despite a slight frost overnight on Tuesday, although conditions are certain to be testing with the going described as heavy.

As a precaution clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright revealed covers will be deployed to vulnerable areas of the track.

"It's not hugely changed. We had a light frost last night but we were fit to race today," he said.

"There's quite a bit more moisture to come. We hope it comes as rain rather than as snow. There might be a light frost on Friday night, but if the forecast is accurate we race. We are a shade of odds-on that we will race.

"We will be covering the at-risk areas. We will be covering take-offs, landings, the back straight and the bend."