Royal Ascot 2023: three horses who will love fast ground on Saturday

We have had a great spell of weather so the ground at Ascot Racecourse is forecasted to be good to firm this weekend. ITV Racing action gets under way there at 2.30pm on Saturday and Adrian Wall has found three horses that should all relish the fast conditions. Please note that the ground can change rapidly so be sure to check that the ground is still fast come post time before you place your bets.

2.30 Ascot

Lightning Leo has buckets of stamina in his pedigree so this stiffer track is going to play right to his strengths. He made a winning start to his career in gutsy fashion in a 7f Yarmouth novice race 23 days ago, digging deep to fend off the reopposing Sayedaty Sadaty on fast ground. He can improve again.

3.05 Ascot

Mysterious Night finished off his juvenile campaign well, winning a French Group 3 before signing off with victory in a Grade 1 at Woodbine in the USA. He seemed to hate soft ground in the Craven Stakes on his return and he should relish being back on a fast surface. He has also been gelded since and this is the horse that may turn Charlie Appleby’s week around.

3.40 Ascot

Wellington is a very classy sprinter at his best and has done very well in Hong Kong, winning four Group 1s over 6f and 7f, the most recent coming in the Hong Kong Sprint in December under this jocket. He has yet to be at his best this term but Ryan Moore has been booked for the ride which is a real sign of intent.

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.