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I have tickets for Friday and forecast is perishing from now until then
I simply cannot recall whether they (like Newbury) have decent anti frost measures in place?
Memories gone to pot lately
anyone know?
Cheltenham hopefully have their own system in place but I’m also sure I read that the Betfair blanket is going to be used again at the bigger tracks this season.
I think the last meeting they lost to frost was the late-January Pillar meeting almost 2 seasons ago. It was the one that prompted the infamous ‘We’re 75% likely to race’. As I was working at the track that day, I had no choice but to set off before the final inspection and was 3 parts of the way doen the M5 when the meeting was called off. Damn you Simon Claisse.
I remember watching the Morning Line that day with Cleeve Hill white with frost in the background, and the temperature expected to only get to 5C.
There was never a hope in hell that they were going to race that day.
At 9am, Claisse will suggest that the ground may be Heavy.
At 10am, Claisse will suggest it will be on the soft-side of Good.
At 11am, he will commence putting on "five million gallons of water" to ensure "proper racing ground".
At noon, the meeting will be abandoned due to sheep-grazing illegally by the Dawn Run statue.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d suggest Claisse inspects an entirely different kind of grass, before he issues his Going reports. If there’s a way to lose the meeting, he’ll find it. He is a cloth-eared muppet of the highest calibre.
I hope your tickets are refundable, clivex.
I was taking my parents for their first visit to Cheltenham that day and was gutted to find out when we got to Chelters that it had been called off (think that was the day Newcastle played Cheltenham in the FA Cup).
Fortunately there was just enough time to re route to Chepstow (which only just got the ok itself) and we went to Cheltenham later on in the year for the first day of the Paddy Power meet.THE ground at Cheltenham was reportedas ‘good’ on Tuesday by course spokesman Andy Clifton, who added that little change was expected prior to the meeting.
“The temperature dropped to minus 4c last night, but that’s helping to keep moisture in the ground. We don’t anticipatea problem with frost, but the protective blankets are at the ready just in case.â€Yes I also got two thirds of the way to Cheltenham that day and I had to phone a bookie to find out in the end because the racecourse conveniently stopped answering their phones after around 10am.
I just carried on in the end and had a good look around when I got there as everything was open and I managed to get onto the track itself easily. To me it seemed perfectly raceable and I actually had mud on my trousers when I got off so it cant have been that frozen!
I spoke to Andrew Franklin of Channel 4 while I was there and he said that they asked Cheltenham if the option was there to move the first race back by half an hour to give it a chance but the racecourse wanted to make a final decision a lot earlier so it wasnt taken up
I just think that the big-wigs @ Cheltenham fancied a day at the footy that day
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