Claisse expects dry spell on run up to festival

CHELTENHAM clerk of the course Simon Claisse expects drying conditions over the coming days as the countdown to the 2010 Festival gathers pace.

With 13 days to go until the opening afternoon of the four-day meeting, the going is described as soft, good to soft in places, on both the Old and New Courses.

But with the weather set fair over the next 62 hours, Claisse foreshadows the ground having dried to good to soft, soft in places, by the weekend.