Royal Ascot is just a week away and the track’s going description is currently good, good to firm in places. The weather forecast doesn’t look too pretty however and it’s unlikely that conditions will be anything like that next week. There’s a chance it could come up soft and with that in mind, we’ve picked out five horses that will thrive if it does. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Big Rock absolutely bolted up when winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in October on soft ground and that run was a career best by some way. He also beat 119-rated Horizon Dore in a Group 3 by five lengths on heavy so his chances increase with every drop of rain.
Big Evs is unbeaten in two starts on soft ground and one of those victories came in impressive style at Doncaster in September. Mick Appleby’s stable star was successful on seasonal debut at York last month and there should be plenty more to come.
Royal Rhyme needs some soft in the description and would be a doubtful participant if that isn’t the case. Lightly raced and progressive, he was a fair fifth in the Champion Stakes over course and distance in October and there could be any amount of improvement to come as a four-year-old.
Rouhiya has taken a big step forward this year and she began the campaign with victory on heavy ground at Longchamp. She followed that up with a game victory in the French 1000 Guineas next time and she may have snuck under the radar a little. Soft ground clearly won’t be a hinderance to her whilst some of her rivals could struggle.
Kinross won the Group 1 Prix De La Foret in comfortable fashion in very soft ground back in 2022 and he followed up in the Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot on good to soft. Ralph Beckett’s gelding was just denied on soft in the same race last year and testing conditions would be a big help here.
If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.