Soft Ground Possible on Day 1

Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse admits the ground may be soft on Tuesday.

The weather forecast is now predicting a band of rain on the eve of the Festival which will have a bearing on the going.

"The going is currently good to soft, good in places on both the Old and New courses. We are expecting a couple of mainly dry days with the odd light shower but then rain Monday night into Tuesday morning," Claisse told Channel Four.

"It could be up to half-an-inch which could put us beyond good to soft and into soft ground maybe. If we got a bit more than half-an-inch it could well be soft."