Ascot going soft all over following 7mm of rain in last 24 hours

The going at Ascot was changed to soft all over on Friday morning after approximately 6mm of rain fell during Thursday night.

A total of 7mm was recorded at the Berkshire venue in the 24 hours to 7.30am on Friday, with clerk of the course Chris Stickels changing the going, which had been good, good to soft in places on the straight course and good to soft, good in places on the round on Thursday.

Further showers are forecast for Friday evening, with low pressure set to bring further rain and strong winds during Saturday's Qipco British Champions Day meeting.

The going change comes 24 hours after officials opted against using the inner track, which had been readied as a back-up for round course races, including the Champion Stakes, in the event of testing conditions.

Stickels on Friday suggested that while he was happy with the decision given the circumstances on Thursday, the situation would likely have been different had the rain arrived sooner.

"It was the only decision we could make at the time because we had to make a decision before declarations, so that everybody knew which track we were on," he said.

"At that point, I had to consider what was available and one track was mainly good to soft and good, while the other was good to firm and firm, so I'm very happy with the decision.

"It was the only one that could be made at that time but had the ground been soft, it would have been a different story."

Stickels added: "There is no change to the forecast for Saturday, we're still expecting more rain. Storm Brian is going to bring some strong winds and occasional showers."

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