Ascot expect easy ground for QIPCO British Champions Day on Saturday – but don’t anticipate having to switch the meeting to the inside track.
Speaking on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast on Monday, Clerk of the Course Chris Stickels said: “We now have a couple of dry days, today, Tuesday and Wednesday look pretty dry. We actually had 4mm or rain overnight which was slightly more than I was expecting and we’re now good to soft
“Thursday night into Friday it looks like we could see more showers or periods of rain. Friday night looks better and Saturday there’s the possibility of a shower or two in the afternoon. I think the possibility of getting another six millimetres or a little more is there but it’s bit unclear at this stage.
“Currently I think we’ll probably be a mixture of good to soft and soft on Saturday but if we get the higher end of rainfall totals then we might be soft all over but that will be in the balance until the end of the week. We could be good ground by Thursday morning and then softening again after that."
The option of staging the card on the jumps course is available to Stickels if the ground was to get very testing – something he doesn’t anticipate at this stage.
“I think that’s highly unlikely given the current forecast – we’re not anticipating heaving coming into the going description for the outer track," he explained.
“The inner track is currently a mix of good and good to firm and some of the bends might be on the slippy side currently because of it being such a dry summer. The more rain we get the less likely slipping concerns are but I wouldn’t be comfortable racing on it as we speak. I don’t think it’s going to be necessary anyway given the current forecast."
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