Trainer Harry Whittington has admitted he is worried by the chance of quicker ground ahead of the Cheltenham Festival.
Stable star Saint Calvados is being lined up for the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy after some impressive runs of late.
The five-year-old is well fancied for the Grade One race on 13 March but he has yet to compete on ground quicker than soft.
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Saint Calvados has won all three races this season but Whittington admits the ground may see him swerve the race.
He told reporters: “He would not run on good ground. As long as there is cut in it he will be fine.
“I’ve more reservations better ground than what he has been running on as he is by Saint Des Saints and he has got that knee action and he seems to have handled that soft ground very well.
“Aidan (Coleman) felt it wasn’t that soft at Warwick and he feels that he will be fine. The lad that rides him every day feels that he will be better on better ground as he will be able to lengthen and just go quicker.
“I would have more reservations about the ground than the track. I’d be more hopeful of a bigger performance on soft ground than better ground, that’s for sure.”
Plenty is being made of what conditions will be like come 13 March after recent heavy snowfall swept across the British Isles and across the Irish Sea, wreaking havoc with racecards at Doncaster, Newbury, Kelso, Chelmsford, Navan, Dundalk and Newcastle.
A red alert has been placed for the south-west of England and south Wales on Thursday by the Met Office, the first time in history such a level has been imposed with up to 50cm of snow possible.
Clerk of the course for Cheltenham, Simon Claisse, is optimistic all will be ready for the four-day feast at Prestbury Park with mild weather expected to produce suitable conditions for race days to go ahead without abandonment.
“We’ve had a relatively dry fortnight,” he said. “We’ve not had significant rain since Festival Trials Day when it was heavy ground, but the track went back well after that.
“We were forewarned 10 days ago to expect a period of snow on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That in terms of rainfall equivalent could be anywhere between 10 to 15 millimetres of rain, which would put the course back to soft with a week to go.
“Beyond the weekend, we look like we are out of the frosts and daytime temperatures are anywhere between 5C and 8C. Depending on the extent of which that snow might blow around and drift we would anticipate seeing the back of it by the middle of next week.
“There are a few bits of rain in the forecast from Wednesday onwards. Although it is a longer range forecast, Festival week is looking on the milder side with bits and pieces of rain.”
Claisse added further optimism after years of experience, saying: “In terms of speculation on forecasts that go beyond three or four days I’ve historically found that’s a pretty pointless exercise.”
