currently soft, good/soft in places

He'll never call it on fast ground but it doesn't mean it won't be on the fast side of good and getting faster unless the hose pipe comes out.

The point has been made by others - the drainage at Cheltenham is highly effective. No point in guessing until 48 hours before the tapes go up and being equipped with an accurate weather forecast.

I recall a few years ago it was heavy 10 days before the Festival and Claisse ended up having to water the track towards the end of Festival to prevent the dread word "Firm" appearing anywhere in the official going description.

yesterday turftrax was showing mainly soft with good to soft places,today mainly good to soft with soft places

Looks like he'll have to water given the forecast.

If the forecast is correct Claisse will definitely water. Those horses who need genuinely slow ground aren't going to get it.

bonnie
26 Feb 15 09:18
Joined: 19 Aug 11 | Topic/replies: 164 | Blogger: bonnie's blog
6.3 on the going stick suggests that it won't dry out to gd/soft all round by the 10th

drying out quick dont yer think Bonnie?

p*ssing it down now

Countryfile forecast:

Plenty of rain tomorrow and into Tuesday, then drying wind and warm weather, with little or no rain from Wednesday into the weekend.

Taps on Sunday IMO

It certainly needs some rain to try and stop Claisse interferring .
Last years Feb rainfall 4.81 inches compared with 1.55 this Feb(on the back of a realtively dry Jan)

described by claisse next tues as good to soft, good in places (nap)
will be proper spring good ground, watering during the meeting (nb)

drying out a treat isn't it !!!!!!!

With just over a week until the start of the Cheltenham Festival, clerk of the course Simon Claisse has not ruled out the possibility of watering during the meeting.

While Claisse is content with the current state of the ground, temperatures are set to rise towards the end of the week and with little rain forecast, the ground looks set to dry out.

"The ground on the Old Course which is used for the first two days is good to soft, soft in places and it is the same on the cross-country course," he told Racing UK.

"The New Course is slightly quicker and is good to soft.

"We are forecast some heavy showers for the next two days, some wintry but only two to three millimetres in total and then it is due to get significantly warmer towards the end of the week.

"The forecast says it could be 6C or 7C overnight and double figures through the day but there is no sign of any more rain beyond Wednesday.

"It's looking like Festival week will be warm and dry with chilly nights, but there are currently no signs we'll see the frost covers.

"Watering through the week is a possibility. We aim to start with ground on the slow side of good, it is difficult to know how fast the ground will dry out, though, so we may need to water through the week which we have done five or six times in the last 14 years."

not ruled out the possibility of watering = watering

could be 15c on saturday

Can somebody lock Claisse in a warbdrobe or something so that he cannot water the track. It makes it a lottery unless you know what the actual ground is! I still think that selected watering was the reason Conti and Bob got beat in last years Gold Cup due to those two running up a softer area and the other three running up quicker ground!

That is the biggest load of tosh i have ever read in my life!! To say Conti and BW lost due to soft ground??

Watering the track makes for safer jumping ground. It is a sad truth that fatalities happen more often on quicker ground! Every time i see them words i say thank you to who ever it is turning on the taps. For those dead against it i petty you!

I mean, who are we to argue with experienced professional groundmen?

Whichever side you come down on re watering, you know it's going to happen if we get dry days leading up to the Festival, so quit b1tching about it and move on.

BARNES1......Finally someone,after 12 months of conspiracy theories etc,hits the bullseye.
The only part of the old course they touched was the run in,where the front 3 veered to the firmer ground,as the courses meet.

Sid James going 1/2 Good-to-Soft, 7/2 Good. The proverbial licence to print money.

Rained plenty in the early hours....fookin woke me up! Ground will be softer now than it was this time yesterday but that looks it in terms of meaningful rainfall over the next week and it is forecast to become much warmer by the weekend. Metcheck predicting temperatures of 14 degrees next Monday and Tuesday afternoon.

14 ??
lovely job

Cheltenham must be on a different planet. It's snowing up here where I am

Lovely bright sunny windy day where I am.

Meanwhile, Wincanton is waterlogged!

4mm rain today .
Diddly squat till start of meeting .
Sunshine breeze and warmer weather will he keep the hose off prior to the meet??

Wheres Alzheimer's Bonnie?

New course long odds on to be watered imo. Will the Old escape it?

Pouring it on by the weekend imo

mairychain1

10/1 to a monkey he waters before Sunday!

i'm here !!!!!!!

Original forecast was for a dry spell before and during the festival. This as now changed and some showers are forecast for the weekend (nothing major) and for some on the Tuesday and Thursday. Hopefully this may stop Claisse getting his watering can out.

Good man Bonnie. What say you now about your earlier comments?

bonnie • February 26, 2015 6:03 PM GMT
patronising **** - i've forgotten more about nh racing than you could ever dream of knowing

and clearly forgot how quickly Cheltenham dries with a bit of spring breeze/sun

now 6.6 on going stick, dried out from 6.3 when i created this topic.

Which flatly contradicts your expressed views. It's getting quicker despite rainfall and will get much quicker yet if further rain stays away.

bonnie • March 5, 2015 1:40 PM GMT
now 6.6 on going stick, dried out from 6.3 when i created this topic.

Fook me I didnt think the festivaL started till tuesday

i was giving the current going stick report, not the one for next tuesday !!!!!

Old = 6.6
New = 6.7

Dried out 0.3-0.4 in two days, despite rain. The range on the going stick for good to soft is 5.0-6.9. So, we're already at the goody end of good to soft. Every chance it will be good, good to soft in places by Saturday and then the can comes out.

He's not my favourite person but isn't calling Claisse the can a bit strong?

Going Change for #CheltenhamFestival @CheltenhamRaces The Going is now Good to Soft (Good in places) (Old and Cross Country). Getting milder

bonnie • February 26, 2015 5:14 PM GMT
thanks geoffm,

gd/firm in places unless he waters !!!!!!!!!!!

cretinous in the extreme

Is it really bonnie?

Watering could start tomorrow

http://m.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Watering-Cheltenham-Racecourse-looks-set-...

No rain at all today. Grey clouds.

saxon farm 05 Mar 15 00:27
mairychain1

10/1 to a monkey he waters before Sunday!

Can I still have 10/1 on him watering before Sunday?

^
Sorry marychain1, far too much vino last evening.  I should not have posted that.
Will happily buy you a drink or 3 if you ever go racing at Midlands tracks.

CHELTENHAM director of racing Simon Claisse is likely to make a decision on Friday whether to commence watering ahead of next week's festival.

With warm temperatures continuing to dry out all three courses, Claisse introduced good into the going description late on Thursday afternoon, with conditions now reported as good to soft, good in places. Wednesday's bulletin was good to soft, soft in places.

The decision will rest upon the scale of any showers which might materialis e. Claisse said: "The drying theme continues but having spoken to our forecaster this afternoon, some of the light showers he is talking about over the next couple of days might pep up a bit.

"We will probably take a decision about that [watering] tomorrow. The GoingStick indices are going up by 0.3 or 0.4 per day and we are currently at 6.9 across the three tracks, which is where we started the festival in 2014."

Claisse added: "I wouldn't mind if the forecast tomorrow morning said that we had another 3mm of rain coming between now and next Tuesday."

last year's race times were the fastest in years and he didn't water.

A lot of weight carrying records were broken due to the ground.

whether he waters or not is massive regarding having a punt without watering flat breds and horses high in the weights
have a great chance.

If he waters stamina laden NH Types and horses down the handicap come into more.

His decision is massive !!!

Look at horses beaten in the supreme for instance on watered ground

my tent or yours
jezki
darlan
binocular
spirit son

Difficult choice for Claisse. There is a couple of ml's due Sunday into Monday and then dry again. If that rain doesn't materialise, then it will be rattling come Tuesday. My guess is that he will water selectively and hope the heavens don't open!

It's ok saxon don't worry, no offence taken mate

It's ok saxon don't worry, no offence taken mate

@CheltenhamRaces Watering: Selective watering (3/4mm) to maintain. #CheltenhamFestival

Well the way its drying out no surprise. had 4mm on tuesday yet by wednesday dried out 0.3 on the going stick. Today gives bright sunshine this afternoon with breeze and mild overnight temps just hope if he does water it doesnt rain any more than expected su/mon

bonnie
26 Feb 15 09:18
Joined: 19 Aug 11 | Topic/replies: 176 | Blogger: bonnie's blog
6.3 on the going stick suggests that it won't dry out to gd/soft all round by the 10th.

Lets hope he doesnt overwater.

I think he had to put something on. He would've been risking good to firm if he hadn't.

Every year we get the same debate but people never seem to appreciate how fast ground can dry out with March winds and a stronger sun. It could easily be firm by Thursday if they take no action. Leave it to those on the ground to make sensible decisions-surely we all prefer soft side of good as the ideal surface for championship races?

The records last year came about as a result of changing the way the races were timed. They have to stand a good way back from the tape and previous records were recorded from flag fall. Last year was the first year of timing as they passed the post already steaming to the first hurdle.

To take a decision to water now is in my view very risky. It's too far away to be sure about the forecast and not far enough away to negate his decision if the call is wrong. If there is rain forecast this weekend he could have been making this decision on Sunday with a fuller picture of what he has had and what is likely to come. Once again the can becomes the main talking point. He's like a football referee who seems to love the limelight.

There is a decent band of rain forecast on Monday according to the BBC long range forecast currently on the website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/31759257

I'm betting the jockeys on Tuesday describe it as sticky, tacky, hard work etc.

I still do not understand why good ground it such an issue, as long as there is no firm in it, it should be fine.   Not sure the stats (horses killed per year) back up that it needs to be slow.   I think the freak year of 2007 just made the authorities bow to the animal rights lobbyists.

Eeternaloptimist • March 6, 2015 11:26 AM GMT
The records last year came about as a result of changing the way the races were timed

Thats not entirely the case eternal . Yes it created quicker overall times but Jezki is still the fastest champion hurdler from 1st hurdle to the line of the last 20 years.

Started watering already....

ANOTHER dry night at Cheltenham has left the ground as good to soft, good in places and with little rain forecast before the start of next week’s festival, officials started a cycle of watering on Friday morning.

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Met Office forecast
Clerk of the course Simon Claisse has made the decision after his forecast continued to suggest 1-1.5mm of rain before the meeting starts on Tuesday.

“We’re selectively watering to maintain current conditions and will apply 3-4mm of irrigation in an exercise that should be finished by Sunday morning,” he said.

“The forecast remains for the weather to get significantly warmer and mostly dry.”

Claisse added the current GoingStick readings - 6.9 across the tracks - will be updated once the watering has been completed.

yh ok, i got that a bit wrong !!!!!!!!!!!

If it rains now after the Clown has watered, they should put him in the Stocks for the day, preferably in the Guinness Village

See below (cut and pasted from another thread on the subject of watering):

I'm not Simon Claisse's biggest fan, the reason being his official going reports can rarely be relied upon to be accurate.  What concerns me about him watering the course is that he may think there is a risk that the going on Day 1 of the Festival will be quicker than "the slow side of good" but given his track record of incorrect and misleading going reports, who's to say that he's basing his watering decision on an accurate going assessment?  Too many in the sport are in thrall to this man.  He performs heroics in getting racing on in conditions which would defy most CoCs and he is motivated by good intentions but in recent years his going reports have been unreliable more often than not and no-one dares to pick him up on it.

Mar 6, 2015 -- 5:09PM, Big_Issue wrote:

If it rains now after the Clown has watered, they should put him in the Stocks for the day, preferably in the Guinness Village

He can only make the call based on the forecasts and those are spits and spots with mild breezy ie drying conditions. If it rains more than that how is this the fault of Claisse ? He has made the call based on the forecasts it's all he can do. He's fanned if he waters and fanned if he doesn't. It's called forecasting for a reason , it isn't an exact science.

Damned bloody predictive text !!!

Shows how useless these forecasters are, now forecasting rain almost everyday!

Coneygree dancing in his stables

What's the weather like there? I'm 50 miles away an it's been hammering it down for last few hours.

I'm in Spain and it's sunny. hth

I return to my earlier comment. Watering a week in advance of the gold cup is lunacy.

.
http://cleeve-weather.grg.org.uk/rainfall.php?date=Mar-2015

It's 1.35 on Betfair to start good/soft and 3 to start on good.

currently 6.8 on going stick

I'm really hoping for a deluge of rain tomorrow, on top of the bit of rain the track will get today. I'm really hoping for good to soft, soft in places. But it'll probably just be good to soft.

The only significant rain on the BBC local forecast after the showers today are on Thursday.

The worst of the rain bands coming through today & tomorrow are going to hit further north.

Barely drizzling here in Newbury.

I find those seem to lag the main weather forecasts. Check out the latest UK forecast video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/

forecast not looking as great for the week now.

bbc, met office, accu weather, xc etc all predicting lots of cloud and a few bits of the wet stuff

Precious little rain in Cheltenham today - hardly enough to green the grass.

Course records are often set when the going is just the soft side of good.

Current 5 day forecast (BBC and Metoffice) shows light rain today, sunny on Tuesday, showers on Wednesday and then some heavier rain for a time on Thursday evening.

Looks like perfect ground tomorrow but could be on the fast side on Wednesday unless the rain comes in the morning.

Is it not pissing down atm ??

Virtually no rain in Cheltenham yesterday or today (thus far). It will be quick enough tomorrow and quicker on Wednesday.

Ok thx

dried out from 6.8 this morning to 6.9 at 4pm on going stick.

6.9 was the reading on the first day last year. Unless it rains in the meantime, probably be a bit quicker than on first day last year by off time(according to official data anyway, other factors like slower grass growth compared to last year might make a difference but I ain't no Thrower/Titchmarsh/Dimmock).

How were the jockeys reporting the ground today?

Dead, pretty much as per the official description. Definitely riding a bit slower than day 1 last year based on times.
There are showers around the next few days, at this stage going could turn proper good or proper soft by Friday.

Would like it to get as close to good for Sprinter tomorrow.

There could be rain today, but anyone on course yesterday will know that it was a cloudless sky, very warm in the sun and light breezes all afternoon. Until the rain arrives, it will be quicker today for sure.

Expecting bit of rain at 12-3pm today,wind dried it out more atm ,more good

I'll be happy if it stays off until 3:30. COME ON SPRINTER!!

Minimal rainfall in daylight hours today.

Any rain there this evening please? Thank you

It has just started Giddy. If the forecast is correct, it will ride much slower tomorrow.

Cheers ff. Been backing Definitly Red for the AB ante post. I'm up against it anyway,but a bit of rain would help
A deluge would be even better.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2653261

Pi55ing down

definitely putting a halt on any bets for me at the mo...looks like continuous rain all morning till 1pm on the forecast...

@CheltenhamRaces: There has been 5mm of rain overnight. The ground is currently GOOD TO SOFT, weather expected to clear early afternoon. #TheFestival