Magician looks set to do the trick in King George

The going is key to this afternoon’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Ascot, with very few of the eight runners suited by cut in the ground.

Early yesterday afternoon the description was given as ‘good to firm’, from ‘good to firm, good in places’, and yet just three hours later, following heavy rain, it was officially ‘good to soft’.

Should it deteriorate further, to soft, it would be no surprise to see the field depleted.