Good to firm ground expected for opening day of Royal Ascot and clerk 'very happy' with conditions

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

Royal Ascot is set to begin on predominantly good to firm ground, with clerk of the course Chris Stickels reporting he was very happy with conditions three days before the meeting gets under way on Tuesday.

The official going on Saturday was good, good to firm in places, with Ascot expected to apply further irrigation before racing starts given a largely dry forecast for next week.

Stickels said: "We're going with good, good to firm in places. I imagine I'll change it to good to firm, good in places tomorrow morning, and it's highly likely we'll be watering tomorrow.

"The forecast is generally pretty fine for the week ahead. Temperatures are expected to be between 20 and 26 degrees to next Thursday, when they could increase further. 

"There may be an odd shower on the odd day, but the forecast does keep changing slightly. But there's really very little rain forecast throughout the week."

Ascot has received around 12mm of rain over the past seven days and Stickels said ground conditions were now likely to remain steady up to the opening day.

"We were aiming for good to firm, good in places and it'll be similar to that, I imagine, come Tuesday," he said.

On Friday, Ascot hosted gallops for Australian sprinters Overpass and Joliestar, and Stickels reported positive feedback from the riders involved, saying: "They were very happy with the track yesterday."

Now read these:

'He felt a different horse today' - Gregory returns from 476-day break better than ever at York 

'The sky's the limit' - confidence growing as Aussie sprinters get a feel for Ascot 

A darkened box and goggles - Gosdens applying unusual techniques to help Gold Cup winner counter rare eye condition 

Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.