Cheltenham Festival gets the go-ahead

Racing at the Cheltenham Festival will go ahead on day two after a precautionary weather inspection, racecourse officials have announced.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Mar 2019, 05:40 BST
Updated 13th Mar 2019, 08:08 BST
All systems go: Cheltenham passed an early inspection.All systems go: Cheltenham passed an early inspection.
All systems go: Cheltenham passed an early inspection.

Last night an inspection was called for 8am on Wednesday morning with high winds predicted and there was a contingency in place to postpone the second day’s card until Saturday.

However, with weather conditions easing, officials have given the go-ahead almost two hours before the scheduled inspection to provide racegoers with plenty of notice.

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Simon Claisse, clerk of the course at Cheltenham, said: “We’re delighted that the weather conditions have changed from the initial forecasts and the prospect of higher wind speeds and gusts have receded.

No stopping them: Day two is on at Cheltenham.No stopping them: Day two is on at Cheltenham.
No stopping them: Day two is on at Cheltenham.

“We are looking forward to a fantastic day’s racing on the Old Course with the feature race the £400,000 Grade 1 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase.” Cheltenham officials brought forward their precautionary inspection from 8am as high winds threatened the Festival.

Similar conditions struck on the same day 11 years ago and caused the cancellation of racing.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase and other high-profile races were instead run later in the week, added to the Thursday and Friday cards.