No more watering at Cheltenham

by Michelle Fortune , 15 March 2010

No further watering will take place before the start of the Cheltenham Festival, clerk of the course Simon Claisse has confirmed.


The entire course was watered last week but Claisse refused to rule out turning on the taps again to ensure good to soft, good in places for the opening day of the Festival.

However, with rain now forecast it has been decided no more water will be applied to either course, although the situation will continue to be monitored.

"I made clear on Sunday that if the signals for rain strengthened, I would not water the New Course on Monday, and the signals have strengthened," Claisse reported to racingpost.com on Monday.

"I would be committed to the funny farm if I watered now given those strengthening signals, so I'm not going to water.

"However, I have said all along that, if necessary, we can water later in the week. I would also not rule out changing the going description from good to soft, good in places to good, good to soft in places, should the need arise."

The Old Course is used over for the first two days of the Festival with the New Course staging racing on Thursday and Friday.

Subscribe to Setanta
Hungary v Ireland

Setanta Sports broadcasts exclusively live coverage of the best premium football, rugby and motorsport including Barclays Premier League, Rugby World Cup 2011, French Top 14, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, League of Ireland, Rabobank Pro12 and Golf from around the World.

Edit Web Part Contents