Cheltenham going: the latest updates ahead of Gold Cup day at Cheltenham

The ground at Cheltenham is expected to be good to soft ahead of the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup on the final day of the festival on Friday.

A total of 73,754 people, the highest figure for any day at the festival, were on track to watch Flooring Porter win the feature Stayers' Hurdle on ground officially described as soft during a dry day on Thursday.

Clerk of the course Jon Pullin was criticised on Wednesday for his decision to water before the track was hit by heavy rain, causing the ground to turn heavy following the fourth race, but he confirmed the conditions were steadily improving, with a dry day expected on Friday.

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

"We had a dry day on today so we didn't face the same challenges as Wednesday," said Pullin. "We changed the going before racing as the areas of heavy ground, identified last night, had dried up well so we went soft all over.

"I'll update the going in the morning and would envisage good to soft appearing in the description. I spoke to the jockeys this afternoon and they think it's a combination of good to soft and soft. We're due another dry, bright sunny day with temperatures up to around 14C."

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