Winning Post-1500m: Slightly more fill in lane 1 but there's not a lot to report in this area that will shape the way races are run or any lanes of advantage. It walked a Good 4 and will hold up well with any rain on Friday or Saturday.
1500m-800m (back straight): Only minor wear and sand fill across the inside 6 metres. Coverage is solid and the ground is quite consistent so should race well. Can't see positioning or lanes having an impact here. Walked a '4'.
1300m-800m (chute): Some sand fill close to the fence that with rain could make it a slight disadvantage. Without rain it will hold up and be even across but anything above 3mls might have an impact in which case lanes 2 and 3 will be slightly better ground. There's slightly more wear in the spot where the chute meets the course proper, particularly against the fence. Also walked a '4' here.
800m-400m: Quite even across but this section has retained more moisture than other parts of the track. It walked on the slower side of a '4' but any light rain would push it into the Soft range. Lanes 5 and 6 have inferior coverage through trackwork/jump outs and with rain will race slower. The inside 3 lanes feel even until the 600m mark where lane 1 walked a touch slower but without rain it won't be drastic. Again, if any significant rainfall I think the fence will be avoided.
400m-Winning Post: Lanes 5 and 6 are quite bare in the section at the entrance to the straight. They had 14 trials on the track back on August 9th with cones directing the runners out wide. The wear from these is still prevalent and any horse peeling into those lanes might find it tricky. Towards the outside fence is better ground but not sure many will be brave enough to search for it. Inner lanes have sandfill in places though not in abundance. I thought lanes 2,3,4 would race as the best ground and I'd be happy to avoid hard on the fence as well as lanes 5,6,7. The surface walked in the 4 range, but with some give in it.
Verdict: Will be quite a fair track but from the 600m mark I thought lanes 2,3,4 would be an edge for horses that can find it. Light rain is forecast on Friday and Saturday and I felt that anything more than a few mls would accentuate the pattern. I'd be happy to hold off backing horses that you think might be sitting back and peeling out into lanes 5,6,7 until you've seen how much rain falls and perhaps a couple of early races.
T H Verco, Mrs L V Verco, A T Verco, Mrs J M Verco, R T Verco, R V Verco, J C Easley, P J Seears, Mrs H S Seears, J S Thring, P H Davidson & Mrs A J S Davidson
R R Jolly, Wolf Pack One (Mgr: M D Cini), Dabor Racing (Mgr: Z Standish), Sailor Beware (Mgr: T J Greening), Family Ties (Mgr: Mrs A Baylis) & Lucky Greg (Mgr: G Read)
