Cheltenham Going Now Good

Bright spring sunshine has helped bring about a change in the going at Cheltenham where the official description of the ground is now good on both the chase and hurdle courses.

However, clerk of the course Simon Claisse is confident conditions will not get any quicker before the start of the meeting on Tuesday, as rain is forecast for the opening day of the four-day fixture.

'The going is now good all round on both courses,' said Claisse. 'There are little bits of good to soft but with these warmer conditions they will soon go, although on the cross-country course the ground is good to soft, soft in places.

'There is a very good chance of us getting some rain on Tuesday morning and further rain on Wednesday evening as the weather gets warmer.

'Temperatures are set to rise between 12 degrees centigrade on Tuesday and 16 degrees centigrade on Friday.'

Claisse has a contingency plan to water the Gold Cup course should the forecasters get it wrong and the weather remain dry over the next three days.

He said: 'In that instance we would put some water on to prevent the ground going good to firm and it would be selective watering on Wednesday night into Thursday on parts of the course which we would consider to be too quick.'

That seems an unlikely step for the Cheltenham executive, however, as the course has taken a steady amount of rain in the build-up to the Festival, more so than in recent years.

'We´ve had rainfall every week since the Pillar meeting but the last week was the driest since the end of January,' Claisse concluded.

(C) PA Sport