IT’S BEEN A difficult couple of days for punters and the wildly erratic weather that has become alarmingly normal has not helped.

Testament to how lively the ground was, Constitution Hill smashed the course record in Tuesday’s opening Supreme. Just over 24 hours later, horses were being scratched all over the place because the track was becoming waterlogged.

You could have been sitting on a Bravemansgame docket for eight months and then it rains and he’s pulled out shortly before the race. It’s hard to take as a punter.

Cheltenham got it all wrong with the watering, which seems to imply they had no idea of the rain that would fall Wednesday. “There will be a precautionary inspection at Cheltenham tomorrow in light of the forecast for further watering,” noted one wag on Twitter.

The early birds have latched onto some horses they like who love the slop over the remaining two days – but who is to say it won’t dry out markedly in this time? There are a lot of imponderables when it comes to this stuff but it only adds to my belief that Bob Olinger is a great bet at odds-against in the opening Turners (6.30).

This looks a match but Bob Olinger does not seem to have any ground concerns. It turned heavy yesterday and Galopin Des Champs’ Irish record needs to be repeated here. On yielding ground it’s 1111. On anything worse it’s 2P6.

Maybe we are reading too much into this but I favoured Bob Olinger in any case on the basis of his turn of foot. He looks odds-on to go off odds-on, odds-on to win and odds-on to provide Rachael Blackmore with an upturn in fortunes: bar Honeysuckle, who was a class apart, she’s not had a good week.

Gordon Elliott predictably got off the mark Wednesday and one feels that it was the next chapter in getting over you know what from last year. His Grand Paradis has very pressing claims in the Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate Handicap Chase (4.10).

Conditions can only help his chance. I’ve followed this horse so far this season and he is one who will not be inconvenienced by the rain: his two hurdling wins (from three starts) were on heavy. He’s yet to win over fences but he is a really good jumper most of the time and everything looks right for him here, with Davy Russell in the plate.

There was a crazy bias towards those up with the pace in some races yesterday. If that is still the case come the last race, the Kim Muir (5.30), Rightplacerightime could be one to latch on to.

His preparation is a bit unusual as he’s run twice of late, short prices at Carlisle and Leopardstown and unplaced in both, but he’s a dour stayer and he just needs to avoid mistakes. I am happy to take a chance on him given his price and rider Maxine O’Sullivan has an astonishing jumps record in Britain: nine rides, four winners in the past five campaigns.