RAIN caused chaos at Cheltenham ahead of the first day of racing with cars getting stuck in mud and the course becoming covered in puddles.
Almost 70,000 punters will brave the awful weather to take in seven races on the first day of the Festival.
Poor commentator Hunt got his car stuck in the mud just 200m from the main entrance to the track
SplashPunters will be wrapped up against the elements on day one of Cheltenham[/caption]
PAThese punters didn’t mind the showers as they rocked up in some jazzy outfits[/caption]
PAThe rain didn’t dampen the spirit of this racegoer who was among the thousands turning up on day one[/caption]
SplashPunters piled into the racecourse looking for winners – and cover from the rain[/caption]
SplashIt was brolleys at the ready on day one of the Festival[/caption]
But racing commentator John Hunt got off to a shocker when he posted a photo showing his car stuck in mud ‘200m from the main entrance’.
Already it looks like one race tomorrow could be lost, with an inspection called on the Cross Country Course for 8am.
If the saturated track is not fit to race then that contest – which features the likes of former Gold Cup winner Minella Indo – will be moved to Friday.
Trainer Syd Hosie took a video of himself walking the track before the first race – the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – at 1.30pm.
He was kicking up water as he walked up the home straight, the standing water clear to see.
It means the soaking ground could throw up some freaky results with horses who revel in the mud coming to the fore.
Sun Racing picked out five horses who should relish the mud – while Templegate provided his tips for day one here.
Former Grand National winner and ITV Racing pundit Mick Fitzgerald also posted a video of the track looking back towards the huge grandstand.
Digging his heel into the turf to show the give in the grass, he wrote: “Soft as it has been on the opening day for some time!”
Hopefully the weather wouldn’t put too much of a dampener on racegoers.
More than 300,000 pints of Guinness will be sunk during the week.
The Irish will takeover Cheltenham on Thursday for their St Patrick’s Day racing – so expect to see a lot of the black stuff then.
While some 14,000 bottles of Champagne will also be drunk from 2km of bar space.
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