The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, set for November 14 at Cheltenham, has been pulled from the card, the ground simply too firm to race on. A parched summer left attention fixed on preparing the Old course for last month’s opener, and while that surface has come good, the cross country track has not recovered in time. Even with some rain forecast before the November meeting kicks off next Friday, it won’t be enough to bring the three-mile-five-furlong test to a safe standard, and the race now finds a new home on Festival Trials Day, January 24.

Cheltenham’s clerk of the course Jon Pullin said: “It is always disappointing to lose any race or fixture, and the team have worked incredibly hard in very challenging conditions to get the Old course in the excellent condition it is currently in.

“Given the exceptionally dry summer, our priority had to be ensuring the Old course was ready for October’s meeting. We had hoped to turn our attention to the cross country course once rainfall arrived, but with limited rain to date our focus must remain on maintaining safe, consistent ground on the Old course ahead of the November Meeting.

“The forecast suggests we will not receive the volume of rain required to bring the cross country course to a safe standard so we have taken the decision early to allow participants to adjust their plans and allow us to confirm an appropriate replacement race.”

That replacement now steps into the gap: the Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Chase Series Handicap Chase, originally pencilled in for Wincanton on October 26 before that fixture fell to the weather.

Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
£35,000 added, 5yo plus, 3m 6f 37y, Class 2
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