HOPES are high that Kelso Racecourse can beat the weather in order to stage one of the highest quality cards of the jump racing season in Scotland, scheduled for Saturday.

The Totepool sponsored day features the £38,000 Premier Hurdle and the £35,000 Premier Chase - won two years ago by Grand National hero Many Clouds, when the race was rescheduled after an eight-day delay when the original date succumbed to waterlogging.

Snow is the key threat this time around and the racecourse management has already floated a proposal to re-stage the fixture, in the event that Saturday’s meeting is abandoned.

Jonathan Garratt, managing director of Kelso Races Ltd, said: “It looks as though several fixtures will be lost across Britain during the next few days, although few will feature such a high quality programme as has been compiled at Kelso.

"The British Horseracing Authority will be looking at all the options and will have to assess where the best prospects lie for re-scheduling races.

“I’m very optimistic that, if we lose Saturday’s fixture, we might be able to welcome the same horses on a different day.

"Having spoken to a number of trainers with horses that are engaged, we know that they’d be keen to come to Kelso, even if we staged the races on the Sunday, eight days later, as happened two years’ ago.”

The Totepool Premier Chase has been increasingly used as a springboard to Aintree and this year’s renewal has attracted both of Scotland’s Grand National hopes: the Sandy Thompson trained Seeyouatmidnight and Stuart Coltherd’s Captain Redbeard.

They would face stiff opposition from the Nigel Twiston-Davies trained Bristol De Mai, who ran away with the Betfair Chase earlier in the season and who is being prepared for a tilt at the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl. Paul Nicholls has entered Warriors Tale and dual Scottish National winner Vicente.

The Totepool Premier Hurdle has been won in the past by useful sorts such as Glingerburn, Le Prezien, Mount Mews and Clever Cookie - who subsequently developed into a Group horse on the Flat.

Kim Bailey's First Flow, who holds an entry in the Supreme Hurdle at Cheltenham, has the top BHA mark of 144 after his Grade 2 success at Haydock.

Kevin Ryan's Beyond The Clouds, unbeaten in all three hurdle starts, isn't far behind on 142 and the form of his Kelso win in October is working out extremely well. Silver Concorde, the 2014 Cheltenham Bumper scorer, when with Dermot Weld, has won three races since moving to Keith Dalgleish.

The six race programme, which boasts more than £110,000 in prize money, is set to get underway at 2.15pm, with the gates opening at 12.15pm.