Watering takes place at Cheltenham ahead of Paddy Power Gold Cup meeting

Simon Claisse expects his last meeting as clerk of the course at Cheltenham to begin on predominantly good ground on Friday, having been in the unusual position of having to water the course before the three-day Paddy Power Gold Cup meeting.

After walking the course at 3pm on Tuesday, Claisse called the ground good to soft, good in places on each of the chase, hurdle and cross-country courses but expects it to dry back towards good ground by the end of the week.

"Having put on two bouts of irrigation on the chase, hurdle and cross country courses, we're now good to soft, good in places," said Claisse.

Cheltenham Friday card

"The chase and hurdle courses has had two bouts of 15mm, one this week and one last week, and the cross country had two lots of 20mm. That was on top of 40mm of rainfall the weekend before last."

Claisse said the outlook was for patchy, light rain between now and Friday, with a similar outlook for the weekend. As things stand, he does not plan to water again.

He added: "I would expect the ground to reach good, easy of good, by Friday. On the basis of the existing forecast, it looks highly unlikely that we will do any irrigation during the weekend."

End of an era: November meeting will be Simon Claisse's last as clerk of the courseCredit: Edward Whitaker

This will be the second meeting in succession where Claisse has been required to water the track in the build up and believes this may be only the third time during his tenure as clerk of the course that he has had to irrigate the track before the November meeting.

He said: "It's pretty rare to irrigate for this meeting. I know we would have done in 2003 and I think there may have been one other occasion that decade where we watered for November. It wouldn't be more than three times in my term here, now in its 23rd year."

Claisse will officially hand over responsibility for the course to Jon Pullin on Sunday evening, although he will be on hand to assist his successor at Cheltenham's December meeting, after which his association with the course officially ends.

"I've got mixed emotions," he said. "It's been my life for 22 and a bit years but I think the decision I took in May was the right one. I've been terribly lucky and still describe it as an honour and privilege to have worked here for that period of time.

"I've got some wonderful memories of the place and have been supported by a fantastic team of people."

Read these next:

Henry de Bromhead 'very happy' with Put The Kettle On ahead of Politliogue clash

Surprise Cheltenham entry for Tiger Roll as Gordon Elliott weighs up Sunday run (Members' Club)

Racing Post exclusive offer. New customers can get £30 in free bets. First single & e/w bet only. Odds of 1/1 or greater. 6 x £5 bet token. Free bet stakes not included in returns. Free bets redeemable on horseracing only. Free bets are non-withdrawable. No free bet expiry. Eligibility restrictions. Further T&Cs apply. 18+. begambleaware.org.