ROYAL Ascot regulars have had their ardour dampened by unseasonable weather, but the rain isn’t the only thing to dampen the mood in recent weeks.

First of all, credit must go where it’s due, and Ascot has coped tremendously well with the adverse weather, particularly in respect of the racing surface, which has coped well, at the time of writing, with the volume of both precipitation and equine footfall, with the expected bias against good-actioned performers not in evidence, and class prevailing more often than not in the top races.