The hurdles track is only a standby for Saturday but it routinely offers better racing ground in October than the Flat circuit
“Hurdles track” is a description you won’t hear very much in the build-up to Champions Day, but Ascot’s hurdles track is indeed the strip of ground most likely to be used for the round-course races on Saturday, including the £1m Champion Stakes itself. The official description is “inner Flat course”, though the course has never yet been used for Flat racing.
That seems long odds-on to change on Saturday, because the round course Ascot uses for Flat racing is waterlogged in places and there is plenty more rain in the offing. One forecast predicts 20mm today alone. Meanwhile, the “inner Flat course” is good to soft, soft in places, having presumably remained unknown to watering cans all summer.