Ascot going eased to soft, good to soft in places for King George meeting after 17mm of rain overnight

The going at Ascot for the King George meeting eased to soft, good to soft in places on Thursday morning following 17mm of rain overnight.

The two-day fixture at the Berkshire track begins on Friday and the ground description was changed earlier this morning having been good, good to soft in places on Wednesday.

Although officials were expecting rain to hit the track overnight, clerk of the course Chris Stickels was unsure as to how much would arrive.

"It's a fraction more than we were expecting," he said. "We were forecast between 7-15mm, but it was hard to know what was going to happen with that rain front coming through and different models forecasting different amounts."

A total of 31mm of rainfall has been recorded over the past seven days at Ascot and breezy conditions with sunny spells are expected on Thursday with the possibility of a light shower.

In terms of Friday and King George day on Saturday, Ascot officials expect temperatures in the low 20s that could help any drying of the track.

Stickels added: "The forecast now is for three breezy days and a light shower is possible today. There are showers possible for each day, but we're not talking about a large volume of rain.

"It remains fairly warm and temperatures will be between 21 to 24 degrees, and there could be some drying conditions if we don't get the rain."

The five-day Glorious Goodwood meeting begins on Tuesday and the going at the track was changed to soft, heavy in places (from good to soft) on Thursday after 20.8mm of rainfall overnight.

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