Cheltenham 2017/18

Elliott to walk the course tomorrow morning before any decision is made on Samcro according to Betfair preview.


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Danny said:
Thought the decision was made ? 10 times over !
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He just said Olly Murphy had said that there was serious rain over and they got a few more mls today so he’d like to walk the course himself. I’d say it would have to be very heavy for him to go Supreme but there was rain due again Monday and Wednesday.


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For Claisse to even be prepared to put the word Heavy in at this stage the ground must be pretty savage imo.
 
Does anyone know what time declarations are made for Tuesday?? North hill Harvey looks like a non runner judging by the machine.

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More rain than was originally forecast is now expected at Cheltenham, where the festival was already set to open on Tuesday at its softest for at least 20 years, with parts of the course having turned to heavy on Saturday.

While clerk of the course Simon Claisse confirmed it was dry through Saturday night into Sunday morning, breakfast time brought a prediction from the track's weather expert John Kettley that more rain than originally forecast would fall on Sunday and Monday.

The track had already had a total of 16mm over 24 hours to force a change in the official going description on Saturday to soft, heavy in places.

Claisse reported "just spits and spots of rain" on Sunday morning but revealed: "The significant change is that we are now due more rain before we kick off. We are now expecting up to 10mm between now and Monday night, rather than the 6mm we were previously talking about.

"The effect of that will depend upon its timing and intensity, but we are going to be starting on soft or slower. The midweek rain, which is up to 9mm, now looks set to be split between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but the effect will be the same."

Claisse added: "The heaviest ground is behind the two-mile starts, and so only affects races over two-and-a-half and four miles, but where we have the intersections of the Old and New courses - in front of the stands, at the end of the back straight, and at the bottom of the hill as they turn for home - those areas are heavy too."

Trainer Nicky Henderson, who will check out the surface himself when he walks the course on Sunday, admitted that the testing ground could be a concern for Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Might Bite.

The last time the meeting opened on ground as soft was in 1995, the year Master Oats landed the Gold Cup by 15 lengths, and the word 'heavy' has not appeared in the official festival going description since 1993 on either the Old or New course.

"It has certainly not featured for 18 years and must be at least 20 years," Claisse said. "We would have had heavy had we run the festival in 2001 when we had foot and mouth.

"I was talking to Philip Arkwright [Claisse's predecessor as clerk], whose last recollection [of such testing conditions] was Master Oats in 1995."

Might Bite
Henderson had no worries about the conditions for Unibet Champion Hurdle favourite Buveur D'Air but said Might Bite, the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite, would not relish them.

"We are very happy with Might Bite," he said on Saturday. "He did a nice piece of work this morning and it is all systems go for Friday.

"The slight worry is going to be the ground. He won't relish it as much as some of our others, such as Buveur D'Air, but the Cheltenham going can change very quickly.

"I will do my walk of the course on Sunday as normal. I am hoping the ground does dry up in time for Might Bite on Friday. He is in great form and I couldn't be happier with him."


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Few in number for the Arkle but immense in quality.

I plan to wait until Tuesday morning before getting well and truly stuck into Saint Calvados. I'm hoping the price will be longer then than it's likely to be in the interim.
 
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Mullins and Ricci look like being up to their shenanigans again with Douvan. Laughing my f...... ass off. The McConnells can hardly be happy about that if it does go down.
 
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No jockey yet for Yorkhill - Townend rides Melon.

Could Mullins be trying to persuade Dickie ? His old Florida Pearl rider.
 
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All the while Elliot and O'Leary stated continuously thruout the winter that Samcro was heading to only one race and so it is. While there are a lot of things to dislike O'Leary for away from racing I find his racing character one of the most interesting flat or jumps.
 
The difference is that they call the shots. Ricci just goes along for the ride.


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The Supreme looks a cracker and despite the ground worries 13 runners is an excellent turnout for the Champion
The novices handicap looks intriguing
The rest of the card - underwhelming about nails it.
 
fonz said:
The Supreme looks a cracker and despite the ground worries 13 runners is an excellent turnout for the Champion
The novices handicap looks intriguing
The rest of the card - underwhelming about nails it.
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Cannot agree small field but three fascinating runners in the Arkle.
 
Of course we can't be sure he's been quoted correctly, but RP running this quote from Nicky who just walked the course

Nicky Henderson was “very pleasantly surprised” when walking the course at Cheltenham. He says: “It’s soft for sure, but a long way from being desperate.”
 
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