Good give in the surface, minor wear from track gallops earlier this week. Coverage is solid and the grass has been cut shorter than previous years. Horses will get their toe into the ground, walked a Soft 5.
1200m-800m:
Coverage is strong through here with only minor wear spread evenly across the track. Walks into the ‘5’ range and I don’t think we’ll see an upgrade even with the warm temperatures forecast.
800m-400m:
This section basically encompasses the entire home turn. I thought hard on the fence would hold together for the first few races then would start to yield. I would have thought by the quaddie legs you might start seeing a few drifting wider coming down the hill. Walks a ‘5’ and confident it stays in that range.
400m-Winning Post:
Pretty even in the straight and expecting it to race well. Plenty tend to wobble on the turn and end up down the crest but won’t surprise me if a few can duck up the rail with some success. Thought it walked a ‘5’ as well but a touch firmer than other sections. Coverage is as strong in the straight as anywhere else.
Verdict:
Expecting the track to be in the Soft 5 range for racing and highly doubt you’ll see an upgrade despite warm weather forecast. As the meeting progresses I’m expecting the fence to chop out a touch and a few of the jockeys to go searching for better ground. Won’t surprise if we see a few down the outside rail at Monday’s meeting.
Minella Bloodstock (Mgr: M J Hickmott), D P Hirst, P V Grix, M Kendrick, Jessica Gordon (Mgr: D K Gordon), D J Holmes, R A Buckley, Mrs S Buckley, A Maloney, D Loy, J Pratt, K Perry & B O'Brien
Red, White Quarters, Royal Blue Star, Striped Sleeves
Owners
D B Bonetti, D Willis, S Willis, M J Dunemann, B W Dunemann, M J Glamuzina, J A Glamuzina, J Glamuzina, J C O'Hanlon, K A Reynolds, P S Manning, C M Manning, D J Evans, G Metcalf, D Sullivan, K J Maule & L Press
