Winning Post - 1500m: There is general wear and tear across the track with no specific lanes of note. The surface is quite open and any rain will make a difference to the track rating.
1500m - 800m (back straight): Once again, the track is pretty even across with very minimal marking. There is less wear and tear on this stretch of the course than elsewhere and I'm not expecting positioning to be a conseqeunce here.
1300m chute (1300-900m): I felt the ground walked slower in this section mostly due to the longer grass and thicker coverage. Lanes one and two had some sandfill which might be a slight disadvantage, but not enough to make riders want to avoid it.
800m - 400m: There is slightly more fill in lanes one and two but the track is quite inconsistent right across. It walks like a surface that will suit horses who enjoy choppy tracks or genuine soft tracks. It felt quite loose underfoot but hard to identify lanes of advantage other than slightly more sandfill towards the fence.
400m - Winning Post: Again, quite loose underfoot and felt like any rain will have an impact on track rating and times. Lanes six and beyond are marginally worse from jump outs/trackwork and inside the final 200m I thought there might be a slight leaning to horse in lanes two and three.
Verdict: The track walks as a Soft 5 and without any more rain forecast it should stay in that range. I'd be very surprised if we saw an upgrade. The wear is noticeable but quite even across most of the lanes, I'm not expecting a fast deck that favours leaders. Last week the track raced really evenly and I'm expecting this track to race in a similar way.
A F M Panozzo, F D Brown, R A Ford, M B Closter, E Gelagotis, J S Overington, G Mellis, D J Leale, N Gopaul, S J Day, Mrs S Kanga & N E Chaplin, Metcap Mgt No 1 (Mgr: Mrs S Kanga) & Metcap Mgt No3 (Mgr: J Kanga)
P Blair, Ramjets Racing (Mgr J Blewitt), R, D & P Clarke, J Crocker, A Edwards, S Henman, D Hickey, D McLarty, B Meyer & Kildalton Park Racing (Mgr D Gordon)
Navy Blue, White Sash, Lime Green Striped Sleeves, Quartered Cap
Owners
Werrett Bloodstock Pty Ltd (Mgr: N R J Werrett), Encompass Bloodstock (Mgr: S B McCann), Seymour Bloodstock (Mgr: D S Thomas), T & Mrs J S Joyce & L M Macri
P A Mauger, Dr H A Lewis, S Sloan, A D Taylor, Woodstock Racing (Mgr: A R Larwood), J P Higgins, D G Reynolds, J D Dollman, N I Dinning, G T Carnegie-Smith, R A Bosher, M C Brougham, A J Gurry, W J Gurry, M D Pickering, M Stewart, D Stewart, R Beens, Ms M C Higgins & Harewood (Mgr: D J Champion)
