Morphettville Parks: Morphettville

Morphettville Parks Track Report

Winning Post-1500m: Racing returns to the Parks track for the  first time since 25^th March, which was its third Saturday in a row. The Parks has recovered particularly well after those three consecutive weeks and presents in excellent condition again, with a very tight mat of kikuyu thatch that presents an excellent cushion. The rail comes back to the true position. It should race evenly and walks consistently. Rated a Soft 5 at acceptance time on Wednesday morning and walked in that range on Thursday afternoon, heading towards a Good 4, with good moisture levels present. 

1500-800m (back straight): The track presents well with an excellent grass cover in both back sections of the chutes. This back straight section walks consistently well across the track and is expected to race evenly. Walked in the Good 4 range on Thursday, following 23mls of rain for the week. The track has tightened back up after a break and looks like an end of Summer track, which is encouraging for Saturday.

1400m-800m (chute): This presents very similarly with a fresh pad of turf back on the rail. Even and lush grass coverage during this section as expected and will race evenly on and away from the fence. Horses will not be disadvantaged racing slightly away from the fence in this section of the track, with new ground on the fence and out wider.

800m-400m: There are very little signs of damage from the last Saturday meeting on the circle and turning for home, so it is not expected to disadvantage any runner on the rail. The coverage is mostly even and walks consistently on and away from the fence. It is expected to see fields start to fan into the straight, with a consistent coverage of grass in this area.

400m-Winning Post: Some very minimal areas of wear closer away from the rail, but looks pretty even all the way across. It would not surprise however, to see horses fan out after straightening, near the 300 metre mark, as has has been the pattern in recent meetings.

It will be no surprise to see horses spread out in the straight, particularly later in the day. The track walks consistently and well in the straight, with recent jump outs and track gallops causing some wear and tear further past the 8-10 metre line, which should not come into play on Saturday. There is no appreciable difference from the fence out to the middle of the track and the coverage is lush and consistent across to Look for winners coming towards the middle of the track as the day goes on. Every runner should have their chance on an even and consistent track.

Verdict: The recent rail movements have been the key to helping the track present in excellent condition again and this track is the pick of the two tracks in terms of consistency of the surface, with seven races to be run on it on Saturday.

It should again play evenly and race well. Recently we have seen winners being a good mix of on-pace runners and backmarkers, winning near and away from the fence. Even with the rail back in the true, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence to suggest that one part of the track should be favoured over another, as it presents in excellent condition and should give every runner a chance. Good moisture levels on Thursday have the track primed to race evenly and be presented as a Good 4 on Saturday.

Morphettville Main Track Report

Winning post-1800 metres: Only the three races on the Course Proper , with the rail staying out 8 metres from the 1200 metres to the winning post and 5 metres from the true position for the remainder of the circumference. This is the same pad as last meeting and some slight bruising is evident up the Bray St side of the track, with little damage in to the three wide line. Rated in the Good 4 range on Thursday afternoon with cloudy and cool conditions prevailing.

1800m-1200m: There is good grass coverage all the way around to the 1200 metres and the track walks with some evidence of wear and tear from the inside three or four horses, following a heavy downpour during the last race last Saturday. Rain on race day causes damage to the track and there is evidence of fill here which will provide some kickback in these last few races. There will be no disadvantage to be away from the fence, in the two and three wide line, particularly with cover.

1200m-800m: This part of the track also presents with some fill from damage during the last race last Saturday and walked in the Good 4 range yesterday. The track presented well last Saturday and unfortunately heavy rain opened it up in the last race. There is good recovery to the inside of the rail for future meetings going into May.

800m-400m: There is consistent ground from the fence out to the three and four wide line, with consistent wear from the last meeting. Good moisture levels remain on this part, right through to the finish. There is some wear on the fence to three and four horses out and horses will be looking to get away from the fence from this point. Expected to kick out late in the day.

400m-Winning Post:  The track walked consistently in the Good 4 range on Thursday. The track has raced evenly over the last few months, with horses winning on the pace and from back in the field in recent meetings. The straight walks mostly consistent from the fence out, however this is with signs of damage from the last meeting. It is expected that runners will be looking to make ground out wide, as jockeys will  look to come to the middle of the track in these few races.

Verdict: The track walks with some evidence of surface damage from the rain affected last race last Saturday. This goes to the three and four wide line coming to the turn and then is consistently across the track in the straight. Look for horses coming from further back and fanning from the turn out towards the middle of the track late in the day.