Ascot clerk of the course has explained that ground conditions are up in the air at the moment ahead of the eagerly anticipated King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes card on Saturday with showers set to fall throughout the week.
The 1m4f Group One is one of the highlights of the tracks racing throughout the flat season away from the Royal meeting and the feature event of the Berkshire track’s two-day meeting, which starts on Friday.
At this ante-post stage the black type event looks set to be the race of the season with the likes of Derby one-two Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, Coronation Cup winner Emily Upjohn, 2022 Derby winner Desert Crown and Group One winners, Luxembourg Westover and Hukum all set to feature.
(Credit ATR) “We’re delighted with how the whole card is shaping up and the entries are excellent,” said Chris Stickels, Ascot’s clerk of the course.
“The King George itself looks like it could be a fantastic renewal.”
Conditions are currently described as good to soft, soft in places following a drying day on Monday, but throughout the week anything between seven and 15 millimetres forecast to fall, something Stickels believes could be the big deciding factor on whether the meeting is held on good or soft ground.
Monster performance! Pyledriver lands the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes for PJ McDonald and @Muir_Grassick 👏 pic.twitter.com/xm8b2nqYqf
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 23, 2022
Stickels said: “The going is currently described as good to soft, soft in places.“That will probably change on Tuesday given we’ve only had 1mm so far on Monday.
“It’s been fairly breezy and will be drying a bit. There was only a little bit of soft first thing this morning in it, we were expecting a little bit more rain, so it’s quite good it has stayed dry.
“I imagine there will be a change in the going on Tuesday to reflect it drying a bit, unless we do get any further rain now.
“The forecast for Tuesday looks generally settled. There is rain again and showers on Wednesday night through Thursday which will soften things up again and then Friday and Saturday look generally dry and blustery, with a chance of a blustery shower.
“We don’t know what to expect because every forecast model is different, but we’re forecast between 7mm and 15mm. If we had 7 or 8mm it would be goodish ground, but if we had the top-end of that forecast it would be slower than that.
“There’s a front coming through late on Wednesday through Thursday and the volume of that will be the factor that will determine what the ground will be like over the weekend.”