Gosden will walk course before fiddling with Stadivarius’ entry
– The participation of arguably the biggest and brightest star on Qipco British Champions Day will hinge on raceday conditions at Ascot, after trainer John Gosden stated he will have to be satisfied with the course on Saturday morning before allowing champion stayer Stradivarius to chase an 11th consecutive success.
Odds-on favourite for the British Champions Long Distance Cup, Stradivarius overcame soft ground to win the same Group 2 contest last year and looks likely to face similar conditions again should he get the green light from Gosden to run at one of British racing's showpiece fixtures.
The three races at Ascot scheduled for the round course – the Long Distance Cup, Champion Stakes and Fillies & Mares Stakes – are almost certain to switch to the course's inner track to ensure racing takes place under the best possible underfoot conditions, and that probable switch could be crucial where Stradivarius is concerned.
"We'll have to wait and see what track we'll be on," said Gosden on Monday when asked about the five-time Group 1 winner's participation. "And the most important thing I can do is see how it is and walk the track on Saturday morning, as I did last year, and make a final decision."
Ascot's outer track, which would normally be used for the fixture and for all others on the Flat, remained waterlogged in places on Monday, while the inner track, left unwatered through the summer, is good to soft, soft in places despite the deluge that has seen 140mm of rain at Ascot since 21 September.
So saturated were conditions on Sunday morning, long-serving clerk of the course Chris Stickels described conditions as "the softest and wettest I've ever known them" and little had changed after he surveyed the track on Monday afternoon.
"We've had 6mm since yesterday lunchtime," said Stickels at 3pm on Monday. "The ground remains heavy on the straight course and heavy, waterlogged in places on the round course. The inner round course is a mixture of good to soft and soft."
Considering the forecast for the remainder of the week, races on the round track could be abandoned as early as today according to Stickels, allowing a switch to the inner track – which is essentially the hurdles course – to be sanctioned well in advance of Saturday.
He added: "So far it hasn't been as wet as it could have been. It was a bit drier yesterday but then further rain today and showers tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.”
Regarding the straight course, already described as heavy, Stickels said: "The straight course is taking the rain at the moment. It's a very free-draining surface and takes it very well. At the moment it's fine and I don't have any major concerns but obviously it's heavy ground."
Speculation over the participation of Stradivarius saw his grip at the head of the Long Distance Cup market loosen a little, with Ladbrokes going 8-11 (from 1-2).
The main movers against Stradivarius were Royal Line, Dee Ex Bee, Withhold and Mekong, whose owner Philip Newton described as "entered and there to run".
The Sir Michael Stoute-trained four-year was a general 25-1 shot before Monday's five-day declarations but ended the day around half that price, with bet365 the last firm holding out at 16-1.
Mekong has not been seen since finishing 10th in the Sky Bet Ebor and Stoute shelved a run in the Listed Prix Scaramouche earlier this month.
"The cards haven't quite fallen for the horse this year and the race at Saint-Cloud was an option where the deck might have played our way," said Newton, who also bred the son of Frankel. "But we decided that travelling him over and bringing him back meant we were maybe going to compromise having a real shot on Saturday."
Nor is Newton is among those who will be overly concerned by the weather.
He said: "Mekong is effective on everything: he goes on fast ground and has shown that he can go on soft ground as well. He has been very lightly raced this year and that's the trouble with the Ebor. You get seduced by the money and as a consequence, instead of the normal sort of programme you might have had, we thought we’d have a good shot at the Ebor." – Racingpost.com
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