Key events18m agoPreambleGoing to start putting up some previews of the day’s action from our racing correspondent and tipster Greg Wood, who is currently leading the national press challenge in the Racing Post.Good morning. It was overcast this morning but no precipitation so the going for day three of Royal Ascot is: Good to Firm and there’s very little between the different sides of the track.GoingStick readings at 8.30am:Stands’ side: 8.8
Centre: 8.7
Far side: 8.7
Round course: 7.5We have one non-runners so far so cross this off your list of possible wagers …4.50pm Britannia Stakes: 16 Bobby McGee (vet’s certificate – temperature)She might need the farrier if these Royal Ascot racegoer’s shoes malfunction today. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PAPreambleGood morning from Ascot on the third morning of the Royal meeting 2026 – Gold Cup day – where Aidan O’Brien is poised to become the first trainer to saddle a century of winners at Flat racing’s showpiece event, having moved to 99 with a winner in the first race on Wednesday.There are more races to aim at these days than there were in the era when the late Sir Henry Cecil racked up what was, at the time, a record 75 winners, and while the Sir Michael Stoute was active well into the five-day Ascot era and had saddled 82 by the time of his recent retirement, O’Brien’s record is still an astonishing achievement, even by the standards of the pre-eminent trainer of the last 25 years.He has a total of seven runners on today’s card as he looks to reach three figures, including Scandinavia, the somewhat uneasy favourite, in the Gold Cup at 4.15 and opening up with Aix La Chapelle in the Chesham Stakes at 2.30.Scandinavia’s main Gold Cup rival, according to the betting at least, is last year’s winner, Trawlerman, and there is now less than a point between them in the betting. Elsewhere on the day three card, the Oaks form gets an early test as Legacy Link, the Epsom runner-up, lines up for the Ribblesdale Stakes (3.40) just two weeks on from her big run in the Classic, while the Britannia Handicap at 4.50 could well turn out to be the most competitive event of the entire meeting – just two of the 30 runners are currently on offer at single-figure odds.Another 5mm of water was applied overnight to maintain the going at good-to-firm, thoughts on possible winners are here, and the action is underway at 2.30 on what could be a historic day at Royal Ascot. One hundred is only a number, but it’s an impressive number all the same.Racegoers arrive ahead of the day's races at Royal Ascot. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
