Prior meeting essentially +4m, this meeting essentially the same except 1000-WP is +8m.
Winning Post-1800m: Slightly more wear in lanes 1 and 2 but it's only marginal. There was good give in the surface at the time of walking it, I felt it was slightly better than a '5'.
1800m-1000m: Still thought harder up on the fence had slightly more sandfill in it from the last meeting here on May 4. It walked as a Soft 5 but I got the feeling that with some racing they'd certainly break the surface. They had received a couple of millimetres of rain overnight prior to me walking it so it may dry out before Saturday. The coverage is solid for this time of year though.
1200m(chute)-800m: The chute is nearly always in pristine condition, much the same for Saturday. Really good cushion under foot and no marking to speak of. Where the chute joins the course proper there is generally always a patch that's significantly worse and that's the case at present.
800m-400m: Noticeable wear and heavy fill from lane 6 and beyond from jump outs and trackwork. Given the fields are quite large, I'd imagine some horses peeling out wide from the back may be in those lanes and could find it hard to make ground. I felt the fence was quite even at present but got the feeling it may deteriorate after a couple of races. Won't surprise me if the best ground early is lanes 3,4 and 5. Felt like a Soft 5 to me.
400m-Winning Post: Similar to the previous section, there is noticeable wear from lane 6 and beyond which is likely to be slower ground. Hard up on the fence has a touch more wear than lanes 3,4 and 5 so it might end up being slightly slower as well. Once again, I thought just off the fence would be the preferred ground (at least early) in lanes 3,4 and 5. Walked a '5' also.
Verdict: The last couple of meetings here were basically in the +4m range where it counted. It raced fairly on both occassions. The rail now goes out to the +8m position around the home turn and in the straight so there's only minor wear close to the fence but it could mean slightly slower ground. The area of interest for me is out wide from the 800m mark where the swoopers are likely to find themselves. The ground was damp when I walked it and assuming that's still the case on Saturday I would think those horses in lanes 6-10 might struggle to make up the ground. I thought lanes 3, 4 and 5 were the pick of them but would probably even up with the inside if the jockeys agree and target them early. I think the track will probably stay in the '5' range barring perfect weather.
W B Kluske, G B Kluske, P R Spain, Mrs M P Spain, J M Lovelock, K C Finn, A F Pieters, B Pieters, D W Bottroff, D T Mattingly, T Mattingly & Mrs K Mattingly
