Going changed to soft at snow-hit Cheltenham ahead of next week's festival

The ground conditions at Cheltenham on Friday were eased to soft (from good to soft) following 12mm of wintry showers in the previous 24 hours.

Although large parts of the country have been impacted by snow this week, it fell for the first time at Cheltenham overnight with the course covered in white on Friday morning.

Conditions on the Old course, which stages the action on the first two days of the festival on Tuesday and Wednesday, had eased on Thursday and the wintry showers caused conditions to soften further.

Clerk of the course Jon Pullin said on Friday afternoon: "We had 12mm of rain in 24 hours and had a covering of snow this morning. As forecast, the snow flurry stopped by mid-morning and the track is now clear. We'll let that settle and see if it has had any further impact on the going. We'll reassess in the morning."

On the outlook in the build-up to the festival, Pullin said: "We could get an overnight frost tonight and then we're due to be dry in the day tomorrow, with the risk of rain and sleet showers in the evening."We're due another dry day during the day on Sunday before a band of rain moves in Sunday evening into Monday morning, which might be 5-8mm, and the remainder of next week is unsettled with showers."

The going on the New and cross-country courses was also changed on Friday to soft, good to soft in places (from good to soft, good in places).

Following the change in the ground at Cheltenham, William Hill cut the price on the official going for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle being soft to 11-10 (from 7-4). Good to soft remains the favourite at 4-5 (from 8-13), while heavy is 8-1, good is 20-1 and good to firm or firm is 100-1.

Read these next:

Paul Kealy's guide to the favourites at the Cheltenham Festival 

Which horses will be helped or hindered by soft ground at Cheltenham? 

Introducing our brilliant Cheltenham Festival team - get full access now with 50% off for three months 

Do you want £200+ of free bets for Cheltenham? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.