Good to soft going on first day at Royal Ascot
Royal Ascot is due to stage plenty of mega events in the coming few days and the surface will play a vital part in the results. Ascot’s ground was on the good side, before the heavy showers turned things around overnight.
As a result of some rain, the going eased to good to soft for the opening day of the Royal Ascot Meeting. However, the conditions are unlikely to become more testing, as the weather is forecasted to remain dry for next two days.
The rain is set to return on Thursday and the officials are still unsure about how the conditions will be at end of the week. Chris Stickels, clerk of the course, told At The Races:
"We had a drying weekend until Sunday night when overnight and Monday morning we had six millimetres of rain. It's made us good to soft now. I think it will just be on the easy side. It is going to dry a little bit between now and then. It's just on the
easy side on the straight course and a bit easier on the round.”
He added: “The course has taken the rain exceptionally well. It's just on the easy side. It does dry and drain quite quickly but we won't need to add any water.”
The venue is scheduled to host half a dozen big events on Tuesday. Today’s card includes Queen Anne Stakes (British Champions Series), King´s Stand Stakes (British Champions Series & Global Sprint Challenge), St James´s Palace Stakes (British Champions Series),
Coventry Stakes, Ascot Stakes and the Windsor Castle Stakes.
The party will begin with the Queen Anne Stakes, which is due to get underway at 14:30 (GMT). The opening race is unlikely to produce an upset, as Frankel looks to be the hot favourite.
Sir Henry Cecil’s 4-year-old has been unbeaten since the start of his career. He recently made his seasonal comeback with a fantastic Group 1 success at Newbury, where he notched the top rank by five lengths.
Frankel has already beaten Excelebration four times and therefore, the latter is unlikely to cause an upset. However, Side Glance might make things tricky for him.
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