Racing all set to resume at Cheltenham later this month

Cheltenham is on course to resume racing later this month following a major upgrade to the drainage system in the home straight.

There was a long delay to Festival Trials day at the course in January after a hole appeared on the track which was later attributed to a collapsed drain.

Remedial action was taken allow the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead without incident, but the two-day fixture in April and the all-Hunter chase card in May were both abandoned to allow more extensive work to take place over the spring and summer.

The planned upgrade of the 600-metre long main drain began in April and more than 1,000 metres of drainage have been replaced in total, with all work completed in August.

Cheltenham’s clerk of the course, Jon Pullin, said: “We’re very happy with how the drainage upgrade and recovery has gone. We worked closely with specialists in turf management and drainage throughout the project to make the right decisions for the long-term management of the track.

“Starting the work in April was critical because it gave us the time to investigate the drainage system properly and take the opportunity to replace other areas that would benefit from an upgrade. For the first five weeks, our in-house team worked with our agronomists to understand exactly what was happening within the system.

“There are five main drains running down the track, with a network of other drains feeding into them before reaching the outlet at the bottom of the straight. We had to open up various stretches of the home straight as part of the investigation process and this gave us a much better understanding of what was happening beneath the surface.”

An additional challenge for Pullin and his team this summer was the extended dry spell, which saw temperatures frequently and consistently peaking at 30 degrees and above between June and August.

But with watering having commenced in August, preparations are well under way for the William Hill Showcase meeting, which takes places on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24.

“Despite the challenging summer, the track is looking in good shape, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming racing back to Cheltenham at the end of October,” Pullin added.

“I appreciate the images of the track over the summer may have surprised some people but, as anyone with a garden will know, the last few months have been extremely hot and dry. However, it is normal practice for us to start watering in August, and we knew that once we started doing so the turf would come to life and the racecourse would look like its old self again.

“While there is more dry weather forecast over the next two weeks, we will continue watering to ensure we are able to provide safe ground for Jump racing.”