Cheltenham's Showcase Meeting expected to start on good to soft ground
By Harry Allwood
Last Updated: Mon 19 Oct 2026
Racing returns at Cheltenham on Friday, with day one of The William Hill Showcase Meeting taking centre stage, live on Racing TV, and with rain forecast throughout this week, the ground is expected to be good to soft at the start of racing.
Good, good to firm was the going description on Sunday evening, but the ground eased to good all over after 8mm of rain overnight and, despite various Jumps tracks suffering problems over the past few weeks due to an incredibly dry summer, officials at Cheltenham are pleased with the condition of the track.
Speaking at a media event organised by The Jockey Club on Monday morning, Jon Pullin, Clerk of the Course at the Home of Jump Racing, said: “At the moment, the ground is good. We had 8mm of rain overnight, so we took good to firm out of the going description this morning.
“There’s an unsettled forecast for the rest of the week. We should see some more rain this evening and into tomorrow morning. It’s also a similar case tomorrow and into Wednesday as well.
“At the back end of the week, there is some uncertainty as to how much rain will fall. There’s a front moving in, and the models are showing different things currently. Some of the models do indicate quite significant rain on Thursday night and into Friday, so we will have to see over the next 24 to 48 hours how those models firm up.
"It certainly looks as though we will be getting rain throughout the week, so we could see the ground easing from where we are currently.
“With the forecast that we’ve got, I think we will be looking at good to soft ground on Friday, but if we did get a lot of rain Thursday night and into Friday, it could ease even further. I would be hopeful it will be good to soft, if we get what looks likely, though.”
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