 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 is a 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.
Races over 1000m and 1200m are run on a straight course whilst races over 1400m start from a chute that joins the main straight in a dog leg shape. The same chute is used for races over 4400m. Races over 2800m and 3261m also start from a chute whilst all other starting points are on the round course. Barrier 1 is always drawn on the inside of the track.
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 1582m 3yo 0-105 Handicap, the 2061m 3yo+ Fillies & Mares 0-105 Handicap, the 2381m 3yo+ Handicap, and the 3261m 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 1582m, 2061m, 2381m and 3261m 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 normally look to go to the centre of the track, but can drift to the far side over the concluding stages.
The Nunthorpe Stakes usually sees a large field with the last ten-year average being 14.3 runners. Nine 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. Only two of the last ten winners, ORTENSIA in 2012 and SOLE POWER in 2014, have come from well off the speed to win.
Last year’s Nunthorpe Stakes was run on Good to Firm ground with a field of fourteen going to post. WINTER POWER broke quickly, and from barrier 6 headed straight to the centre of the track, where he sat second, behind the American sprinter, GOLDEN PAL, who led on the far side but several horse off the inside fence, with LIBERTY BEACH splitting the pair in third. The trio were clear of the chasing pack until the 400m mark, where both GOLDEN PAL and LIBERTY BEACH came under pressure, and WINTER POWER pulled away down the centre of the track, before drifting across to the far side late, to win by 1-1/4 lengths, from EMARAATY ANA, with a further half-length back to DRAGON SYMBOL, who both picked up the pieces late, in a time that was 0.78 seconds faster than standard.
The last ten renewals of the Nunthorpe Stakes Day has seen Good in the description, with three of those years being Good to Firm ground. The weather forecast is predicting warm clear days in the lead up and on race day itself, and if the forecasts are correct the ground will be at least Good and there is a strong possibility it will also include Firm in the description.
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