Cheltenham had also suffered storm damage on Sunday night

Stormy weather caused Wednesday's postponement but the races have been added to the next two days' cards.

Thursday's feature races are the Queen Mother Champion Chase at 1420 GMT and the World Hurdle at 1530 GMT.

Clerk of the course Simon Claisse said: "It will be a challenging couple of days but we're looking forward to it."

Report: Bad weather cancels day two at Cheltenham

A deserted Cheltenham racecourse seen from the air

The strong winds which had made the tented hospitality area unsafe and forced Festival organise to call off the Wednesday's racing on safety grounds have subsided.

"We're fine here this morning, it's mostly cloudy and we might get a little light shower but we haven't got any of those winds," added Claisse.

About 55,000 people had been due to attend the second day of the prestigious meeting at Prestbury Park.

They have been guaranteed a full refund although their tickets were not valid for the remaining two days racing.

Instead organisers have increased the capacity by more than 10,000 to 65,000 for Thursday.

606: DEBATE With the current conditions, you feared this would happen at some point during the meeting g5

Racing starts at 1230 GMT on Thursday and at the same time on Friday, with nine races to squeeze in to a packed card.

The official weather forecast has improved for the final two days of the meeting, with much lighter winds expected.

The Gold Cup showdown between Kauto Star and Denman will still take place on Friday.