Brett Davis

Brett Davis was introduced to Australian Racing by his father back in the early 1980’s when his family became involved in formulating “Thoroughbred Racing Syndications”. Brett worked from 1995 as a Professional Form Analysts and Race Broadcaster with an array of companies throughout most parts of the Australia Racing industry. He currently resides in Adelaide, his hometown in Australia, where he is Chief Thoroughbred Race Caller and Form Analyst for Tabcorp / SkyChannel / RadioTAB. Brett Davis also spent 2 years with the Singapore Turf Club and 13 Racing Seasons with the Hong Kong Jockey Club between 2006 to 2019 as a leading Form Analyst / Race Caller and was the HKJC Chief Race Caller from 2014, calling the last 5 Hong Kong International (Turf World Championships) race meetings and over 50 G1 races. Brett has immense passion for Australian Racing both personally and professionally. With his diverse knowledge and long standing industry relations he’s a valuable asset to racing and it’s enthusiasts.

Randwick Racecourse – Track Analysis (Doncaster Mile Day):

Randwick Racecourse is the home of racing in Sydney, located around six kilometres from the city’s CBD in the eastern suburbs, with races being run there since 1833. It has a track circumference of 2227m, a width of 28m and a home straight that is 410m long and has a gentle rise. Renowned for its expanses, Randwick is a fair, right handed racecourse where every horse in theory should get its chance, however, as can often be the case in Australian racing, track patterns and bias on a particular raceday can emerge, which is worth paying attention to.

The 1600m Doncaster Mile is the feature race on the first of The Championships. The race begins at the famous Randwick mile starting point in the top of the back straight, which has long been regarded as one of the fairest starting points in Australian racing. From the 1600m start, the big field has a run of approximately 600m before the get to the first turn. They then gallop down the side for another 600m before entering the home straight and running for glory. Barrier positions are not the most important factor in the Doncaster Mile, and in recent years, barriers from as low as one to as high as eighteen have provide the winner of the race.

Last year’s Doncaster Mile was won by CASCADIAN, who settled midfield with cover under Jamie Kah’s riding to narrowly defeat ICEBATH, who also settled midfield, while DALASAN settled closer to the pace and finished third.

As far as the other simulcast races are concerned, the 2400m Australian Derby starting position is quite similar to the start for the Hong Kong Derby at the Shatin Racecourse, as the field only has approximately 200m before they begin to turn out of the home straight for the first time, therefore, barrier positions and being able to find a good position early are of great importance. For 2600m Chairman’s Quality, like the Australian Derby, the race starts in the front straight, the only difference is the extra distance of this race means that the runners have more time to find their positions.

The shorter distance races, both T J Smith Stakes and P J Bell Stakes are over 1200m, the field starts from the top of 1200m chute. They then gallop for over 200m before coming onto the course proper on the side of the track, which eventually takes them into the home straight. Given the strong likely pace in this race and the fact that there’s only one turn for the horses to worry about, barrier positions shouldn’t have too much of an impact on the outcome of this race.

For the 1400m Country Championships Final and ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes, the race gets underway from the 1400m chute. They then run for 300m before making their way on to the course proper. Recent history again suggests that barrier positions aren’t too important, as a range of draws have provided the winner of this event.

Sydney has been plagued by wet weather over the last month and showers are forecast for the race day, therefore, it could be worth following horses with proven form on rain affected tracks and paying attention to the way the track is racing in the earlier races prior to the simulcast commencing.

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