Cheltenham basks in sun on final day of preparation

The sun was out at Cheltenham today and it casts a completely different complection over the Festival

Twelve months ago, every inch was covered to protect the hallowed turf from the big freeze - temperatures as cold as -10C had thrown the scheduled start into doubt.

Now, after all the rain in recent weeks, there's been a different war to wage, but all is now in hand.

This is the very last time that Prestbury Park will look as it does right now because two weeks from today a major redevelopment will get underway.

£45 million of funding has just been secured to carry out a planned transformation of the spectator facilities and drag Cheltenham into the 21st century.

A state of the art new grandstand will go up alongside the existing grandstand and an elevated walkway will sweep around the parade ring - all in time for the Festival in 2016.

Other, essential, improvements have already been made.

There are now more mobile phone masts, which should hopefully imporve the infamously poor reception, and free public wifi will be available to all for the first time.

But otherwise we're in for more of the same. Plenty of passion, thousands of Irish visitors, some familiar famous faces and, hopefully, some local winners.

You can watch Matthias Kurth below: