What are conditions like for Cheltenham's November meeting?

The going at Cheltenham was on Thursday changed to good to soft, good in places after a couple of dry days before the start of its three-day November meeting.

Officials faced an uphill battle to provide good ground ahead of its opening meeting last month due to unseasonably dry conditions. A lack of rain in large parts of England has affected several meetings.

"It's been a challenging summer and autumn," said clerk of the course Jon Pullin. "We applied in excess of 20 inches of irrigation ahead of our fixture in October. Thankfully we've had some rainfall since then, which has helped. There was moisture in the top of the surface last month but it was still quite tight underneath.

"With the rain we've had, the moisture is certainly getting through. We've updated to good to soft, good in places for Friday but it's not tight underneath. We're not forecast any rain during the weekend.

"There were several times in the last couple of months when people were getting significant rainfall close to us but we missed out on it completely. It seems the West Country was hit harder than other areas of the country but everyone is dealing with the same issue."

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

The cross-country contest that usually takes place on the six-race card has been replaced by the Glenfarclas Veterans' Handicap Chase (2.55) on Friday due to the absence of good ground on the course.

"We focused our efforts on getting the Old Course ready and safe for the October fixture. Given the amount of time, effort and resources needed to do that, we didn't have the opportunity to also water the cross-country course. We started to irrigate after that fixture but we weren't going to provide safe ground so we took the decision early.

"We've moved it to our Trials Day fixture at the end of January. We were keen to retain the race. It's always a real spectacle and there's a certain pool of horses who thrive in those types of races."

Friday's previews:

1.45 Cheltenham: Grey Diamond out to deliver more handicap success for Sam Thomas and Dai Walters

2.20 Cheltenham: 'He's got a great chance' - who can join a classy novice chase roll of honour?

2.55 Cheltenham: 'Class horse' Ballyandy is a rock-solid favourite - but is he beatable?

3.30 Cheltenham: Can Willie Mullins weave some more Cheltenham magic with Hubrisko?

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