Officials at Cheltenham expect to announce a decision on the date for a rescheduled Festival by Monday at the latest.

Cheltenham already has fixtures on April 18 and 19 but the three days from April 24 are being increasingly favoured as doubts grow over the Punchestown Festival scheduled for that week.

Irish racing authorities are facing up to the possibility of their sport being wiped out until May as the tally of foot and mouth disease cases continues to grow in Britain.

The British Horseracing Board has confirmed that entries for the Cheltenham Festival's events are now invalid with the 20 races being reopened.

A deadline for entries cannot be set until a new date for the Festival is confirmed.

Cheltenham managing director Edward Gillespie said: ''I would very much hope to have a decision on or before Monday.

''We are in contact with people in Ireland, at Portman Square and with all those involved in servicing the meeting.

''We have a pretty good picture of the dates we would prefer, hence the discussions with Ireland.

''We think it would be best for the Irish and the English.''

The chances of a racing ban being lifted in time to allow the staging of the Punchestown Festival, due to begin on April 24, are diminishing.

Irish Turf Club spokesman Michael O'Rourke said: ''The people at Punchestown are still confident the meeting will go ahead and that would make it difficult for some of our trainers.

''It's hard to ignore Cheltenham in terms of the prestige it offers.

''But the problem might be taken out of the trainers' hands. There's a possibility that we might not be racing again until May.

''At present the Irish Government is saying there can be no racing until 30 days after the last confirmed outbreak in Britain. Punchestown is already right up to the edge.

''We just have to hope that foot and mouth begins to ease off in the next week.''

O'Rourke does not expect the Irish Government will relax their ban on racing, which includes horses travelling to Britain.

He said: ''I wouldn't expect the Irish Government to loosen up on the rules. We are a disease-free zone and they want to keep it that way.

''We haven't raced now since the end of February at Naas and we could be looking at May and the Guineas meeting before there is a restart."

Ante-post bets on the Cheltenham Festival will be refunded as all entries for the postponed meeting are invalid.

Cheltenham also announced that ticket holders are being asked to retain their tickets until the dates for the Festival are announced.