Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels is keeping a close eye on the inconsistent weather forecasts ahead of Qipco British Champions Day, live on Sky Sports Racing, but revealed the ground is likely to be no worse than soft.
At noon on Wednesday, the ground in the build-up to Britain’s richest day of Flat racing remained good to soft.
Fears of significant rainfall ahead of Saturday’s card, which will see the swansong of unbeaten Baaeed in the Champions Stakes, are receding, with some forecasts suggesting that heavy rain in the south of England on Thursday could miss the Berkshire track.
“The ground at the moment, we are good to soft,” said Stickels. “The forecast is confusing, as there are different forecasts. We are not really sure. We are predicting between 5mm and 12mm between now and the end of racing.
“Thursday’s forecast is a bit unclear. We are expecting a light shower or two overnight into Thursday, not amounting to a huge amount – 1.5mm to 2mm maybe.