Cheltenham may take cover

Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse will decide on Tuesday whether to deploy ground covers over all the Prestbury Park track ahead of this week’s Boylesports International meeting.

The two-day fixture starts on Friday and Claisse is monitoring the weather closely against the risk of falling to the cold, like many other meetings over the last week.

He said: “We will cover all take-offs and landings, as well as all cross-overs.

“We will take a view tomorrow as to whether or not we fully cover the chase and hurdles courses.

“A lot depends on whether we get cloud cover on Thursday night and, at the moment, there is a question mark hanging over whether that will materialise.”

The going at Cheltenham currently measures good to soft, soft in places on the chase and hurdles courses.

The cross-country course is soft, heavy in places and cannot be covered.