"We might get the odd shower" - Cheltenham Festival expected to start on soft ground

An unseasonably wet February led many to fear that this year's Cheltenham Festival would be run on heavy ground. Last week, going stick readings on the New and Old course suggested that the ground at Cheltenham was indeed heavy, with the Cross Country course even heavier by comparison.

Following a fairly dry week, clerk of the course at Cheltenham, John Pullin issued an update on the going at Prestbury Park.

"We're dry again today which is our fourth consecutive dry day," Pullin said on Friday. "We're soft, good to soft in places on the Old and New courses. What we'll start on really hinges on what rain we'll get over the weekend."

According to the met office, there's plenty of rain around in the Cheltenham area on Sunday, which should obliterate any hopes of good featuring in the day one going description. However, this year's Cheltenham Gold Cup could be run on good-to-soft ground, according to the mid-week predictions.

Pullin continued, "Both Monday and Tuesday look mainly dry – we might get the odd shower – and clearly we've only just started drying so it won't take much to get it back to soft ground. If we were at the lower end of the forecast and we remain dry outside of that there might be some good to soft in it somewhere for Tuesday."

"Tuesday looks dry, at the moment some of the forecasts are aligning and are suggesting there is some rain coming in on Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday."

Bookmakers Ladbrokes is offering odds of 8/11 on Soft being the official going on day one. A day one going description of Heavy can be backed at 8/1, with Good-To-Soft available at 11/1.