Royal Ascot will begin on Tuesday on ground described officially as soft for the first time since 1971. The famous turf has taken a soaking in recent days and a further 4mm of rain overnight prompted the latest change in the going description and several non-runners, whose numbers will swell as the week continues.
There has been speculation that the royal procession up the middle of the home straight, which traditionally takes place before each afternoon’s racing, might be called off, with the royal party taking a less boggy route to the track by road. That has happened in the past, although not for at least 17 years, according to a course official.
Rain continued, some heavy, on Tuesday morning and is forecast to persist for much of the next two days. However, the quantities now being predicted are not thought to pose a real risk of abandonment to the races themselves.
However, it will not produce the kind of ground that most trainers will have been expecting in the middle of June, so field sizes are expected to be smaller than normal as horses are withdrawn. Goldream, last year’s winner of the King’s Stand Stakes, has already been declared a non-runner from Tuesday’s Group One sprint, while Arod has been taken out of the Queen Anne. More withdrawals seem likely after the first race, which will allow trainers and jockeys to form a view about just how bad the ground is.
Back in 1971, conditions were even worse, the ground being so bad as to prevent the starting stalls being moved around the course, so that they were not used for the entire week.
