Cheltenham’s Paddy Power Gold Cup card will go ahead as scheduled after the track passed an inspection on Saturday morning.
The opening day of the November meeting went ahead as planned on Friday, but officials called an inspection after the track had been battered by a deluge of rain brought about by the arrival of Storm Claudia.
The going was changed to heavy, soft in places early on Saturday morning ahead of the inspection. One change has been made to the track, with a new common bend in use turning into the straight. It means the second-last fence will be bypassed in all races.
Uttoxeter’s meeting also survived an inspection. The going is heavy with standing water in places after a nearby brook burst.
But it was not all good news. Navan’s exciting card, which had been set to feature Marine Nationale and Kopek Des Bordes, has been called off and moved to Monday, while Sunday’s racing at the track will be subject to a 7.30am inspection on raceday morning.
Navan manager Ciaran Flynn said: ‘’Unfortunately, the rain has been relentless and there are parts of the back straight waterlogged.
“The forecast is for it to clear in a couple of hours so we are optimistic about racing on Sunday, but we will hold an inspection on Sunday morning ahead of our Troytown card. Today’s card will move to Monday with the same declarations.’’
Cheltenham ON
The Paddy Power Gold Cup (2.20) is the centrepiece of Saturday’s seven-race card at Cheltenham, which is due to get under way at 12.35pm.
The forecast is for light drizzle on Saturday morning before a dry period arrives.
There are eight non-runners including two in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. The most significant of those is Jagwar, a winner at last season’s festival. He was taken out by connections due to the going on Friday, having been prominent in the market.
Dan Skelton has ended the participation of Riskintheground in the same race but still has two chances in the feature, most notably Panic Attack.
Parchment is a significant absentee from the opening Triumph Trial, a race Matiwo will also miss.
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