Cheltenham ground drying out but showers set to play a part in determining Tuesday conditions

Cheltenham has dried to soft, good to soft in places but showers over the next few days could make conditions more testing for the opening day of the festival.

Clerk of the course Jon Pullin said a dry spell had helped quicken conditions slightly, with the immediate outlook conducive to better ground.

"We're dry again today which is our fourth consecutive dry day," he said on Friday. "We're soft, good to soft in places on the Old and New courses. We could get a light shower tonight but nothing significant volume-wise and then another dry day tomorrow before showers tomorrow evening."

Pullin is anticipating 4-6mm of rain over the weekend and, when asked to predict the going description for Tuesday's opening Supreme Novices' Hurdle, he said: "What we'll start on really hinges on what rain we'll get over the weekend.

"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."

There is the potential for rain on Wednesday, although that picture will become clearer as forecasts develop over the weekend.

Pullin added: "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."

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