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Cheltenham's private weather forecaster John Kettley has stated that the 2009 Festival should commence with ground 'no worse than soft'.
Clerk of the course Simon Claisse who had recently reported good to soft conditions on the two main courses, commented:
'John Kettley is confident we should only expect 5mm to 6mm of rain. If we get that it will be good to soft soft in places or soft good to soft in places.'
He went on to say that Kettley's assessment was more precise than the Met Office who give a more general assessment. Should they at all be correct, Claisse said 'we could even have soft or heavy ground'.
Paddy Power are, incidentally, offering odds on which day of the Festival will record the highest wind gauge, with Wednesday being favourite at 11/8.