The Cheltenham racecourse ground is recovering well after severe weather conditions hit the United Kingdom, with large amounts of snow covering the track, according to a report on the Racing Post.
More than 200 tonnes of snow was removed from the course this week as preparations for the eagerly anticipated Festival begins.
The event is set to commence next week on Tuesday 13th March and the clerk of the course Simon Claisse is confident that the course will be in perfect condition by then.
He said:
We’re very happy where we are with the course as it appears to have come out of the cold snap in good shape.
The forecast is for the milder weather to continue into the week. It is 9C at present, as was forecast, although it dipped down to zero overnight.
Most of the lying snow has now gone but we still have some drifting snow. Everywhere should be snow-free by Monday.
However, there are slight concerns as there is expected to be heavy rainfall over the next week, with the showers getting heavier as the Festival nears.
Should the forecast be correct, then the condition of the ground would change drastically which cause some problems for Claisse.
But he remains optimistic and revealed that he will not predict the condition of the course a week in advance because so much could change in seven days.
He is working extremely hard to ensure that the course is in good condition for the Festival and has currently labelled the course as ‘primarily soft’.
