Winning Post-1500m: Very even across the racing lanes in this section. Walked in the soft 6 range but can't imagine there will be any pattern in the few races that run through here.
1500-800 (back straight): No lanes of note here, couldn't find much difference between the inside three lanes. The coverage is solid, but the cold weather has set in and there's no new growth coming through. I thought it walked a '6'. Approaching the 800m mark the inside becomes quite worn after the exit from the chute. I'd say lane 1 would be inferior here.
1400-800 (chute): This section is in good condition as most straight-line sections tend to be. No worse than a soft 5 with only minimal fill across the inside two lanes. Should race well here. The turn out of the chute has a little more wear close to the fence.
800m-400m: Thought lane 1 was inferior here and would not be a help to horses hard up on the fence. Similarly beyond lane 5 there is a lot of wear from jump outs. The lanes between those two areas walked best and should race as such. Walked a soft 6 in most spots but some parts definitely well into the '7' range.
400m-Winning Post: Still thought lanes 2-5 would be the pick of the racing surface, at least early on. Hard on the fence is slightly better in this section than the previous but still thought it was better ground off the rail. Some of the lanes out wider are thick with sandfill and I felt they'd race a lot slower. Won't surprise me if a few pushed out wide turning continue drifting out closer to the outside fence. Some of the middle lanes are close to the '8' range in parts but the lanes of preference would be closer to a '6'.
Verdict: The rail out generally makes swooping wide a disadvantage at this course. Having walked this track I'd expect horses in lanes 2-5 to be advantaged. Hard up on the fence walked a little slower from the 900m to the 400m in particular. Horses fanning beyond lane 5 will hit ground with noticeably more sandfill and I doubt that will help their chances. Wont surprise me if one or two come very wide in the straight with some success but I'd imagine the place to be will just off the fence for the majority of the day. Overall the track is probably fairly graded as between a 6 and 7 track though there are parts that are softer than that.
Royal Blue And Lime Green Diagonal Stripes, Lime Green Cap
Owners
W T Clarken, Ridgeport (Mgr: E S Guagliardo), Willaroon (Mgr: Ms S E Watkins), Bell View Park Stud (Mgr: A P Mackrell), B N Howard, A Darivas & Rushton Park (Mgr: D A Johnson)
K Sexton, P Ditchburn, P Ninnis, Mrs P Southern-Ninnis, Mrs M Shephard, Mrs K Donald, Mrs J Gifford, G Conron, Ms M White, G Gifford, C Mahon, R Edwards, Miss C R Jolly, Ms S Yabsley, Ascot Park Bowls (M Lampshire), Bula Bula (C Fitzgerald), Hoof Hearted 2 (G Platt), BTPT Racing & Lockdown Racing
White, Black Seams, Collar And Cuffs, Gold Sleeves, Black Cap, White Seams
Owners
D J McLeod, R B Mashford, G J Mcleod, Mrs R Richardson, C J Richardson, Mrs M T Kralj, J G O'Toole, W J Conlin, Ms N C Punton, B J Stubbs, Ms J Tracy, Ms J I Smith, S G Davison, W Hanlon, Mrs B Welsh, D M Linehan, P J Cox, Good 3 Racing (Mgr: S P Morris), Miss K A Wyatt & Grunters (Mgr: R D C Ward)
Ms H Harvey, C Bieg, Mrs S E Bieg, Miss J Hall, HAPC (Mgr: C Powell), Woodstock Racing (Mgr: A Larwood), Ms N Rantanen Reynolds, D Reynolds, Mrs J Swinton & S Swinton
