Bague faces Apple test

LA BAGUE AU ROI will clash with Apple’s Jade in tomorrow’s OLBG Mares’ Hurdle after testing conditions persuaded Warren Greatrex to aim his sevenyear-old at the two-and-a-halfmile test.

Greatrex (right) had considered taking on male opposition in the three-mile Stayers’ Hurdle on Thursday. But the Lambourn trainer said: “When it’s testing over two and a half miles at Cheltenham, you need a horse that stays three.

“Also you are taking on one or two in the mares’ hurdle, whereas you are competing against five or six in the Stayers’.

“There’s more to come from my mare and she’s got every chance.”

CHELTENHAM clerk of the course Simon Claisse is predicting soft ground for Gold Cup day on Friday.

The four-day meeting is expected to begin on ground described as ‘soft, heavy in places’ tomorrow, with an unsettled forecast through the week.

“It’s very soft now and I would think that’s what we will start on,” Claisse said yesterday.

“We are forecast rain overnight into Monday, and then it is due to be dry until Wednesday, with rain overnight into Thursday.

“So it’s due to dry a bit and then get softer. Come Friday, I can’t see it getting significantly faster than soft.”