 Tim Carroll 's Bio | |
|---|---|
| Tim started off as a jockey in Australia before pursuing a media career. He is a highly experienced and respected racing presenter who has been based in England since 2005. Tim has travelled the world covering many of the major meetings, including Royal Ascot, The Epsom Derby, The International meeting from Sha Tin, The Dubai World Cup, The Everest, The Saudi Cup and The Breeders. He is currently a presenter for Sky Sports Racing, specialising in both the local and international scene. Tim is a regular contributor to the At The Races Website where his twice weekly tipping column on Hong Kong racing has gathered a strong following. | |
York Racecourse – Track Analysis (Nunthorpe Stakes Day):
York Racecourse, always racing left-handed or anti-clockwise, was once a "course" that, likewise to Epsom or the Curragh, featuring a run-off area in the end, could card races at only up to 2800m. That took a twist in 2005 when, to temporarily host the Royal Ascot meeting during Ascot's massive face-lift, the clubhouse turn was extended all the way to connect the backstretch, thus finally made it a full "circuit" out of this venue.
York is a high quality large course with sweeping turns and no undulations. Considered one of the fairest tracks in Great Britain, the straight is approximately 900m and although the layout of the course suits strong galloping types, horses who get to the front early in the straight often will not run down, especially on testing ground.
There are seven races for coverage on Nunthorpe Stakes Day. The five races on the round course are the 1400m 2yo Maiden, the 1575m 3yo 0-105 Handicap, the 2051m 3yo+ Fillies & Mares 81-100 Handicap, the 2371m 3yo+ 0-105 Handicap, and the 3251m G2 Lonsdale Cup. Runners will start from a chute that joins the main straight in a dog leg shape over 1400m. This trip is quite rare at York. Results show a fairly even spread with high, middle and low draws winning, however speed horses are suited by a low draw due to the part bend. Over 1575m, 2051m, 2371m and 3251m there is no draw bias, but keep in mind they do tend to head to the middle and sometimes the grandstand rail when they come into the straight.
The two races on the straight course are the 1200m G2 Gimcrack Stakes and the feature race 1000m G1 Nunthorpe Stakes. Over 1200m they tend to mostly come down the centre of the track, but will normally look to head to the grandstand rail when the ground is soft, thus high draws are favourable on rain affected ground in larger fields. Over 1000m it is considered that there is little draw bias, although they do often look to go to the centre of the track.
The Nunthorpe Stakes usually sees a large field with the last ten-year average being 14.7 runners. Until the last two renewals, won by BATTAASH from gates 1 and 3, no winner had started from a lower barrier than 7 or higher than 11 in that time. Eight of the last ten winners have come down the middle or grandstand rail with the Australian mare, ORTENSIA, in 2012 the only winner to be up against the far side (inside) rail. The last 10 renewals have been run on ground with Good in the description and it's a race that presents an even chance to both speed horses and those who like to close.
Last year's Nunthorpe Stakes was run on Good ground with a field of eight going to post, the smallest field in some time. QUE AMORO led them on the near side with the short price favourite, BATTAASH in second spot down the middle. The leader went fast on the front with BATTAASH the only pursuer not being ridden along at the halfway mark. BATTAASH looked to be travelling all over the top of the QUE AMORO, but to his credit QUE AMORO found plenty when asked and BATTAASH had to work hard for his one length victory over the leader with MOSS GILL best of the rest, in a time that was 0.12 seconds faster than standard.
The weather forecast sees a chance of some rain on the weekend before York gets underway. However, during the week of the festival there is no rain forecast with most days expected to be sunny, and if that is correct then we can once again expect the ground to have Good in the description.
Disclaimer:
The above content and information are the personal views and/or opinions of each individual writer and do not represent the views of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and/or its subsidiaries (together, the "HKJC"). The content and information are provided by the writers solely for entertainment purpose only, and should not be construed as a suggestion for anyone to place any bet nor should they be taken and/or relied upon as advice of any kind. The above content and information have not been verified, confirmed and/or endorsed by HKJC and HKJC shall not be liable to any person for any loss or damage suffered by such person as a result of any use or reliance of the above content or information.
HKJC shall not be required to give and does not give any warranty, whether express or implied, arising out of or in connection with the content or information. The Club disclaims any responsibility and accepts no liability (whether in tort, contract or otherwise) for any direct or indirect loss of damage arising from any inaccuracies, omission or typographical errors that may be contained therein. The Club also does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or fitness for purpose of any such information.
