Changes made to race courses at Ascot for Champions Day

Ascot Changes Course for Qipco British Champions Day Races

Ascot has made the decision to move three races scheduled on the round course for Qipco British Champions Day to the inner course. This change comes after nearly 40 millimetres of rain in the last seven days rendered the going extremely testing on the round course, with heavy patches appearing. In accordance with a rule implemented earlier, Ascot can relocate races to the inner/hurdles track under such conditions.

The going on the inner flat course was reported as good to soft, with some areas being soft, while on the straight track – which hosts other races like Sprint, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Balmoral Handicap – it was classified as soft.

A statement issued by Ascot stated: “The going on the round course is now soft, heavy in places. Following verification from an independent panel and agreement that this will not improve before raceday, the three Round Course races will switch to Inner Flat Course.”

This adherence is based on race conditions that state if ‘heavy’ appears in any part of the going description, then these specific races must be moved to Inner Flat Course.

“The going on Inner Flat Course is currently good to soft, with some areas being soft,” added Ascot.

As a result of this change in venue for these three races during Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse there are minor distance adjustments required for two out of three events. The Long Distance Cup will now be contested over one mile seven furlongs and 127 yards – a decrease of 82 yards from its original length. Meanwhile, Fillies & Mares Stakes will cover approximately 78 yards less than before making it just under a mile and a half long. Lastly but not least importantly ,the Champion Stakes will remain over the same distance of 10 furlongs.