Going remains good to soft but track could continue to dry out

Cheltenham was bathed in sunshine on Monday but the track still retained enough moisture to leave clerk of the course Simon Claisse both pleased and surprised.

The official going description for the two main tracks remained good to soft but Claisse is not ruling out the meeting starting with some good patches in the official description.

"It's dried out a little but I've been surprised again today how the track has retained its moisture," said Claisse.

"Ruby Walsh and Bryan Cooper both reported that there's plenty of give in the ground, with it being a bit easier down the back straight.

"It does dry quite quickly, especially when there's a breeze with the sun out, but there's due to be more cloud cover on Tuesday with temperatures not quite so high at 12C or 13C.

"I think we'll start at good to soft, although we may have good in places by lunchtime."

Racing switches from the Old course to the New course on Thursday and watering of that track remains an option.

"I can't make that judgement yet," said Claisse. "We'll take a view on Wednesday when we see how much the New course has dried out.

"At the moment we're anticipating rain from Thursday night onwards but probably not more than 4mm or 5mm. It's just a question of when it comes."