Cheltenham going: ground on Old course eases to good to soft after 5mm of rain

Officials at Cheltenham were pleased to see some rain during the early hours of Saturday with 5mm enough to turn the going on the Old course to good to soft from good, good to soft in places.

Clerk of the course Jon Pullin has not ruled out some selective watering on the Old course, which stages racing on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the start of the meeting, with a final decision to be made over the weekend.

"We had 5mm of rainfall during the day yesterday and through the night and I've updated the going this morning, with the Old course and the cross-country course now good to soft," said Pullin on Saturday morning.

"We started watering on the New course yesterday, so with the 5mm of rain and the watering that we did, the New course is now soft, good to soft in places. We put 12mm on yesterday."

The major conundrum Pullin now faces is whether to water the Old course before the four-day meeting commences on Tuesday, with a final decision yet to be made.

He added: "We were delighted to get the 5mm of rain and we'll assess where we are today and if we need to do anything on the Old course we'll make that decision today or tomorrow.

"There's a chance of some rain in the early hours of Sunday, maybe a millimetre or two, and potentially some light showers during the afternoon but after that we're dry.

"The 5mm has done it the world of good and we just need to see how much certainty there is on the rainfall tomorrow and base our decision on that. We'll get an updated forecast later today and then do some selective watering on the Old course if we need to."

Looking further into next week, Pullin said: "There's started to be some rain appearing on a couple of the forecasts for Wednesday. It's not huge volumes and it's not on all forecasts at the moment. In the main they're saying dry next week.

"If we can start on good to soft ground or good to soft, good in places on Tuesday, that would be a good place to start."

Read more on the 2022 Cheltenham Festival:

Sir Gerhard camp 'definitely leaning towards the Ballymore' at Cheltenham

Stayers' Hurdle fancy Sporting John ruled out of Cheltenham Festival

'Rachael Blackmore multiples will be a headache' – bookies share festival fears

Watch live races at the Cheltenham Festival through the Racing Post. Log in to your bookmaker account and look on the racecards for eligible races. Click the red 'Watch live now' icon and they're off! Find out how here