Cheltenham racecourse said on Tuesday that it is “continually monitoring the situation” ahead of the second day of the Cheltenham Festival amid fears that the Champion Chase card could be threatened by a forecast of high winds overnight and into Wednesday.
“The forecast is looking challenging with strong gusting winds throughout the day,” Simon Claisse, the clerk of the course, said before the first race of this year’s Festival meeting on Tuesday. “We are continually monitoring the situation and will keep racegoers informed as the conditions present themselves.”
High winds forced the abandonment of the same afternoon of the meeting in 2008, but no races were lost as the programme was rescheduled to be run over the following two days. Both cards started at 12.30pm, with 10 races – including Wednesday’s feature, the Queen Mother Champion Chase – on the Thursday of the meeting and nine the following day.
There were just 19 races scheduled for the final three races of the meeting 11 years ago, however, while the current Festival has 21. As a result, it is possible that the course could consider extending the meeting to Saturday, though this would potentially cause huge logistical problems – for instance, in finding sufficient casual staff for bars and restaurants – and would require the co-operation and approval of emergency services.