Heavy Rain Places Racing At Royal Ascot In Balance

The penultimate day of the five day Royal Ascot race meeting on Friday is in the balance due to heavy rain affecting the ground

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jun, 2021 ) :The penultimate day of the five day Royal Ascot race meeting on Friday is in the balance due to heavy rain affecting the ground.

Officials are due to hold an inspection at 1245 local time (1145GMT) to judge whether racing can go ahead.

If racing is called off it will be the first time at the Royal meeting since the ground was waterlogged in 1964.

The heavy rain has already seen 16 horses withdrawn across the seven races programme on Friday.

"Following 26 millimetres (an inch) of rain since racing yesterday (Thursday), and with a few false patches of ground which means the ability to race may be marginal, an inspection has been called for 12.45pm (1145GMT)," read a statement by Ascot racecourse authorities.

"We are also looking at options to re-align the rail to avoid these areas.

" The track has outlined three contingency plans ahead of the inspection, with the first option being that the fixture is given the go-ahead and everything proceeds as initially planned.

The second plan is for racing to go ahead on the straight course only, with the Group One Coronation Stakes switched from the round course to make a five-race card, with the Duke of Edinburgh and King Edward VII Stakes run tomorrow instead.

The third possibility is that racing will be called off completely, with the three Group races -- the Coronation, King Edward VII and Commonwealth Cup -- all transplanted to Saturday to make a 10-race card, kicking off at 1.20pm.

The key Wimbledon warm-up tournament Queen's has also been affected with quarter-finals play due to get under way at 1200GMT an hour later than scheduled.