Date mooted for festival

Cheltenham officials are hopeful that the postponement of the festival until next month will enable the Irish to take part.

Although next week's planned festival was called off on Wednesday night because of the foot-and-mouth crisis, it was announced last week that Irish horses would not be attending the meeting.

Edward Gillespie, Cheltenham's managing director, told BBC's Breakfast News yesterday that the main objective in the next few days is to get some dates in the diary, to talk to the British Horseracing Board, talk with Irish officials and get dates so we can focus on that.

The feeling that reorganising the three-day festival for the end of April could enable the Irish to run their horses after all was echoed by Cheltenham clerk of the course Simon Claisse.

He said: "There is obviously a possibility that things may have got better where the Irish stand and the risk of foot-and-mouth spreading over there, so yes it is a possibility."

One possible date mooted for the rescheduled meeting has been to coincide with the fourday Punchestown Festival (April 24th-27th) which appears unlikely to be run because of the Irish ban on racing.

Istabraq's trainer Aidan O'Brien yesterday welcomed the postponement of the festival.

The trainer told RTE Radio 1 yesterday: "Last week we let Istabraq down and we haven't done much with him since, so it suits us that Cheltenham is off now." O'Brien was reluctant to say that Istabraq would definitely be travelling to a postponed Cheltenham because of the ban in Ireland.

However, he added: "We will of course be guided by the Minister for Agriculture, but if it came to a clash between Cheltenham and the Punchestown festival a week later obviously the preference would be for the Champion Hurdle."

With Aintree and Cheltenham now both likely to take place next month, trainers are faced with the added problem of deciding which of the two festivals to run their horses at.

Trainer Mark Pitman said: "Basically we have to decide whether to go to Aintree or Cheltenham. Some horses would have done both. I had a horse Smarty who was going to run at the Cheltenham festival then run in the Grand National. Clearly he won't be able to do that now. He'll probably go to Aintree for the National."

Sandown officials have called a precautionary inspection for 7 a.m. today after heavy rain yesterday put the meetings at the course for today and tomorrow in jeopardy.