'Colder' spell expected before Hennessy

Newbury officials will continue to monitor weather updates very closely for their three-day meeting culminating in the Hennessy Gold Cup on Saturday.

Colder conditions are expected as the weekend approaches and the track staff will take all the necessary precautions.

“Things are fine, we’ve got a lovely covering of grass and we are looking forward to the weekend,” said clerk of the course Richard Osgood.

“The weather forecast was spot on this morning. We were cloudy overnight and have had a little bit of fine drizzle, nothing more.

“It’s going to get colder as the week goes on, but I don’t really want to go too much into that at the moment because it keeps changing.”

The chase course is described as good to soft and the hurdle track good to soft, soft in places.