Cheltenham Festival 'will beat the weather'

Cheltenham officials are confident next week’s four-day Festival will beat the weather – despite meetings lost due to waterlogging almost on a daily basis over the entire country.

The going on all three courses at the home of National Hunt racing is heavy, soft in places but conditions are set to improve during the big week.

“Weatherman John Kettley gave us a forecast from Sunday through until today and he said we’d get between 18 and 23 millimetres and we’ve had 23,” said clerk of the course Simon Claisse.

“The interesting thing is the forecast he gave me this morning from now until next Tuesday is only for another 12 millimetres or so, which would be the same as we had last night.

“I pointed out the other day that we were heavy and soft in places and I expected to be somewhere between the two for the start of the Festival,” he told Racing UK.

Claisse then allayed any fears of abandonment, saying: “On the basis of the forecasts we have now, we can dispel that.

“We could have raced yesterday and we schooled a few horses over the cross country fences.

“I think the Old Course is probably marginally less slow than the New because we have been racing on the New Course on heavy ground (December and January).

“But ground has been reserved for the Festival on both tracks and that’s better than the ground we have raced on earlier in the season.

“High pressure is supposed to strengthen through Festival week and there should be some sunshine and some nice dry warming weather.”

In the more immediate future, racing is set for a brief respite at last from the current wet spell with both tomorrow’s jumps meetings at Catterick and Fontwell likely to go ahead.

However, further disruption through waterlogging will continue with Lingfield having abandoned Thursday’s card, Carlisle in serious doubt the same day and Stratford next Monday already lost.

Lingfield surrendered following an inspection on Tuesday afternoon.

Clerk of the course Neil MacKenzie-Ross said: “We had 20 millimetres of rain overnight and even though it should be relatively dry through until Thursday, the course is just not going to have enough chance to produce safe ground.

“The course has waterlogged, false ground and as a result of that, we’ve been forced to abandon.

“We do have an extra all-weather fixture on Friday though as we approached the BHB after so many fixtures being abandoned over the country.

“We are also going to stage a bumper on that card as a result of it being abandoned on Thursday.”

Carlisle have called an inspection at 8am tomorrow with the track heavy, waterlogged in places following 33 millimetres of rain in the last few days, including 21 millimetres overnight on Monday.

“The fact that we’re inspecting at 8am, before declaration time, tells its own story,” said clerk of the course Jonnie Fenwicke-Clennell.

“The forecast says showers but we need it to dry up and it’s the same everywhere.”

Stratford were forced to abandon next Monday’s National Hunt fixture due to flooding.

After the River Avon burst its banks on Sunday, the track became submerged and excess water swept into many of the racecourse buildings.

And following consultation with a Horseracing Regulatory Authority inspectorate, clerk of the course Stephen Lambert was forced to call the meeting off at this early stage.

He said: “We had a foot of water in most of the buildings yesterday. The water has now receded although the track itself is completely under water.

“I asked permission to abandon Monday’s meeting at the earliest opportunity because it always takes at least a week before the turf recovers its structure after a serious flood.

“We will also need to restore the track crossings which were swept away, as well as carry out remedial work on the buildings.

“Initial inspections reveal that the buildings may not be as badly damaged as first thought, and we should be fine for our next meeting on March 26.”