Cheltenham are predicting going on the easy side of good when the Festival meeting gets under way next Tuesday after snow at the Prestbury Park course.
"We have had 4.6 millimetres of snow, which will go into the ground as rain, and we are now slap in the middle of good ground," said clerk of the course Simon Claisse. "The forecast is for about another eight millimetres of rain tonight and if this arrives we would be looking at ground on the easy side of good, with the odd bit of good to soft, by the end of the weekend.
"Longer term there could be some rain on Sunday evening, Monday should be dry, Tuesday there could be some light rain late in the afternoon, but Wednesday and Thursday will be dry. If the forecast is correct we should be on the easy side of good, but we are still keeping our options open about watering."
Coral have trimmed Azertyuiop into joint-favouritism for the Queen Mother Champion Chase after 12 were confirmed for Wednesday's feature contest today. Last year's Arkle Chase winner is now 5-4 alongside reigning champion Moscow Flyer.
"If the betting is an accurate guide, these two should jump the last together and fight it out all the way up the hill," said Coral spokesman David Stevens.
However, rival firm William Hill do not see the contest that way and have clipped the Jessica Harrington-trained Moscow Flyer into 10-11 from 11-10, leaving Azertyuiop unchanged at 6-4.
Native Upmanship, second in the last two runnings of the Champion Chase, has been left in by Arthur Moore but is unlikely to take his chance.
"I don't intend to run him. I just left him in in case anything happens to the principal contenders, when you see what has happened to Spirit Leader and Jair Du Cochet," explained the County Kildare trainer. "There is no plan to run, but if something happens then we would have to have a rethink.
"He's in good form and will go to Liverpool for the two-and-a-half-miler (Martell Cognac Melling Chase)."
Native Upmanship has won the last two runnings of the Aintree Grade One contest. Azertyuiop's trainer,
Paul Nicholls, also has Cenkos and Venn Ottery in the £250,000 Cheltenham feature. Cenkos has finished third in the last two Champion Chases, while Venn Ottery has shown vastly improved form since moving from the care of his owner Oliver Carter to the Ditcheat trainer and has won four of his last five starts.
His odds have dropped from 1,000-1 when the entries were announced to a general 33-1. Flagship Uberalles, winner of the Champion Chase two years ago, is on course for another tilt at the race. Other interesting entries include Martin Pipe's duo Seebald and Tiutchev and the Donal Hassett-trained Native Scout.