Winning Post-1600m: Still a noticeable difference between the inside two lanes and the rest of the track. The inside ground is fresh and the coverage is lush in comparison which makes it slower to walk on. This section isn't a high-traffic area so doubt you'll see too many riders taking any drastic action here. Walked into the '5' range.
1600m-1000m: Once again the inside couple of lanes is different going to out wider. At the last meeting here we saw the riders sitting off the fence down the back straight and I think you'll see that again here. The pad of grass against the fence is deep and thick, whereas out wide there's not much coverage and plenty of sandfill. In the absence of meaningful rain the more worn part of the surface is actually faster ground. I thought a '5' rating was probably accurate here.
1000m-800m: As the turn out of the back straight the contrast between the inside couple of lanes and out wider is less severe. I still think there will be a reluctance to race hard up on the fence though and the majority of riders will be targeting lanes 2-5 in this section. It also walked a '5'.
1200m-800m (chute): The chute is in good order as is generally the case. The going there is much like the inside two lanes in the previous section, the difference being it's uniform right across. I can't see an edge in any particular lanes and the pad of grass underneath them is strong.
800m-400m: They got off the fence at the last meeting here so there was minimal traffic in lane 1 but you can still see that they did get stuck into it. I get the feeling they'll avoid the fence again here and opt to sit out wider. Hard to get a read on the best lanes and there are little subtleties right across. Won't surprise me if some jockeys have success finding wheelmarks in lanes 3,4,5 and 6. The lanes out wider have more sandfill but not convinced it will race any slower.
400m-Winning Post: Similar to the previous section, I doubt you'll see too many winning hard up on the fence. I thought between lanes 3 and 7 would be as good as anywhere. If the jockeys are skilled enough to get their horse in the right lane and keep them there I think they'll have good success. Walked a '5'.
Verdict: I think this will be a track where it pays to follow the top jockeys. Those able to target certain lanes on the track will have the best success and I'd imagine it's not the easiest of tasks. At the last meeting here, with the rail also in True, we saw most of the winners coming in lanes 3 to 6 and I think that will be the case again on Saturday. Don't be surprised if you see horses sitting off the fence down the back straight which means you'd probably penalise horses drawn inside gates regardless of the distance. There's a little bit of give in the surface and I'd be expecting it to be in the '5' range and would be surprised if there's any change in that regard.
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Racing colours
Pink and Purple Diagonal Stripes, White Sleeves and White Cap
Owners
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Simon Croucher Racing, P W Barrett, T Ellis, B M Thorp, M F Turnley, B J Threlfall, L Langeluddecke, T W Williams, T Ricketts, M Thorp, J Bonetti & B D Jarrad
