While the ground is nowhere near as testing as usual for the fixture, described as soft, good to soft in places, the possibility of sub-zero temperatures Friday night has officials on alert.

Clerk of the course Dan Cooper said: “It’s purely a precaution as plenty of forecasts are showing an overnight frost, so we just wanted to make sure everyone knew where we were, just in case there’s anything untoward.

“We’ve had two track walks this morning and it has taken this week’s rain really well, but bear in mind we didn’t really have any rain in the first week of February, unlike the rest of the country.

“We’ve got the vulnerable areas covered as there’s a possibility it could get down to minus 2C.”

There is no inspection planned at Ascot ahead of the Ascot Chase meeting where the ground is soft.

“We’ve no real worries. It’s a strange forecast as we’ve got the odd shower between now and Friday night, when it turns cold,” said clerk of the course Chris Stickels.

“It might get down to minus 1C on Saturday morning, but Saturday now looks quite sunny and dry,

“The ground has been soft all week. It hasn’t really dried up, all that has changed is we didn’t get the volume of rain forecast earlier in the week.

“It will be soft ground, but I think that is what everybody wants and I’m very happy indeed with the card, it’s very strong.”