 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. | |
Deauville Racecourse – Track Analysis (Prix Maurice de Gheest Day)
Situated on the North Coast of France, Deauville – long hailed as French Racing’s mid-summer haven – while being one of four French tracks to host G1 races on the flat, is not short of action, comes every August, both on and off the track. Its auxiliary Yearling Sales, in particular, is traditionally a prime marketplace for major owners and breeders to replenish their racing stock – and certainly scout for the next superstar on turf. Deauville Racecourse is comprised of two turf tracks – round and a straight course – both of which are relatively flat with only minor undulations.
The round course is oval in shape with right-handed sweeping bends and a circumference of 2200m, along with a straight run in of approximately 420m. The straight mile course conducts races from 1000m to 1600m and joins the round course at the top of the home straight. In addition, there is a polytrack on the inside of the turf course, 2000m in circumference.
There are eight races for coverage on Prix Maurice de Gheest Day, one on the polytrack, and seven on turf, including two on the round course and five up the straight.
The only polytrack race is the 1300m Class 2 Allowance, over this trip they start from nearly halfway up the back straight, meaning they have a run of just under 300m to the first bend, thus speed horses are better drawn low to middle and horses drawn high in larger fields have a slight disadvantage.
For the 2000m Class 1 Allowance, low draws are slightly favoured over 2000m, but recent data suggests the advantage is only marginal. The round course is fair to all runners, but keep in mind they tend to, but not always, run middle distance and staying races in France at a moderate tempo, which can make it difficult for those at the back to pick up the leaders in larger fields.
For 2500m G3 Prix de Reux, runners start from approximately half way up the straight, but barriers are of little importance. However, keep in mind that middle distance and staying races in France can be run slowly, thus in bigger fields those at the back can find it difficult to pick up the leaders.
The five races on the straight course including the 1000m Prix du Cercle, 1200m Prix Moonlight Cloud, 1400m 3yo Fillies Handicap, 1600m Class 1 Handicap and the feature race 1300m G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. The straight course is relatively flat, but with barrier 1 being on the grandstand side and with the stalls usually placed on that side, most races will see the field come down the grandstand rail and the centre of the track, therefore middle to low draws are usually advantageous. However, large fields can see the runners split into two or even three divisions, with the higher drawn runners frequently opting to go to the far side rail.
For the 1300m feature race, G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, it has attracted large fields in recent times with only one renewal since 2012 having less than eleven runners, and the average field size over the last ten years is 13.4. Despite the preference to come middle and stand side, only three winners have drawn below barrier 9.
In last year’s Prix Maurice de Gheest the going was soft and a field of twelve runners went to post. GLEN SHIEL took up the running down the centre of the track, with OCEAN leading the group on the grandstand rail. The American filly, CAMPANELLE, who bunny hopped out of the gates, mustered speed quickly before heading to the far side, with THUNDER MOON following her across, whilst the favourite, STARMAN, tracked the leaders on the stands side, with MARIANAFOOT for company. At the 400m mark the field merged into one, with most of the action on the stand rail. GLEN SHIEL gave way with STARMAN going by, however MARIANAFOOT challenged the favourite at the 200m mark before pulling away to win comfortably from TROPBEAU who worked home strongly from the back, and STARMAN a tiring third, in a time that was 1.64 slower than standard.
The weather forecast for Deauville during the week sees mostly clear days. Seven of the last ten running’s of the Prix Maurice de Gheest Day have been run on good ground. If the forecast is correct then the going is likely to have Good in the description again.
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