Winning Post-1500m: More wear and tear just after the post where the horses pull up but nothing too significant. Beyond that section there's some minor wear and fill across the inside few lanes. I thought it walked on the better side of a '6'.
1500m-800m (back straight): The rail remains in the 3m position in this section and you can see the marking from last week but it's on the light side. They've filled the divots and I think it will race quite well. The wear is uniform across the inside three to four lanes.
1400m-800m (chute): Rail placement unmoved from last meeting. There's uniform wear and fill across the inside few lanes but nothing out of the ordinary. Exiting the chute, the fence is slightly less consistent and may be a minor disadvantage. I didn't think the track was any worse than a Soft 6 and even with a small amount of rain I don't think it will be any worse than that.
800m-400m: I felt lane 1 had more wear and more fill than the wider lanes, particularly up until the 600m mark and then again approaching the 400m mark. I'm expecting horses just off the fence to be advantaged in this section but it could level up after a few races as it did last week. Again, thought it was no worse than a '6'.
400m-Winning Post: Thought lanes 1 and 2 would race marginally slower provided the moisture stays in the surface. It's a shade less consistent and has slightly more fill but if the track dries out it could end up racing just as well (if not faster) than out wide. If the forecast is accurate and they receive a few minor showers then my money would be on the lanes off the fence being superior early.
Verdict: I thought it would race in the same vein as last week. Overall it was quite fair but we saw horses winning after covering ground which is not the usual pattern on the Parks track. The jockeys wanted to sit wide last Saturday and by the middle of the card the fence was at least at parity to the wider lanes. Walking it this week makes me think that will be the case again. I wouldn't be penalising horses with wide gates or that map to be peeling out around the turn. The track is currently rated a Soft 7 but I thought it was a rating better than that. I don't think there's a need to search for genuine wet-trackers unless they get more rain.
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