Cheltenham hopeful of starting next month's festival on good to soft ground

Cheltenham clerk of the course Jon Pullin believes his team are well placed to ensure this year's festival begins on natural good to soft ground.

The going is currently a combination of soft and good to soft on the Old and New courses, with the former raced on for the first two days of the festival, while the ground is marginally quicker on the cross-country course.

Cheltenham avoided any scares from Storm Eunice last week, yet the rain in the last week has been welcomed in the region. Watering, meanwhile, is "not on the agenda" at this point.

Pullin, who will be in charge at the meeting for the first time, said on Thursday: "We're currently a combination of soft and good to soft on the two courses, while the ground is a bit better on the cross-country course.

"We had 4mm last night, which brings the total rainfall this month to about two inches which, after a dry winter period, is very welcome.

Jon Pullin: clerk of the course at CheltenhamCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"The rest of the week will remain mainly dry; there could be a little bit of rain in the early part of next week. After that it'll stay dry with odd showers around.

"I'm certainly happy with where we are at the moment; we're in a great position and watering isn't on the agenda. In an ideal world we'd love to start on natural good to soft and that should suit everybody. We'll continue to monitor forecasts but we'd be hopeful of starting on something near that."

The Cheltenham Festival has started on soft ground for the last three years and 2017 was the last time the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, the traditional festival curtain-raiser, was run on good to soft ground.

Read these next

Cheltenham Festival racegoers face disruption after bus drivers vote to strike

'He's sneaked in under the radar' - seven eyecatching festival handicap entries

2022 Cheltenham Festival guide: when is it and what are the big races?

Head over to our dedicated Cheltenham Festival site for the latest tips and odds for every race at the festival. Our leading horseracing tipsters share their Cheltenham Festival tips and predictions and it's completely free!