 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 for coverage on Prix Maurice De Gheest Day, three on the all-weather, one on the round course and four on the straight course.
The three polytrack races are over 1900m, including two Class 3 Handicap and Class 4 Handicap. The runners start from a chute just after the winning post on the left-hand side of the course, cross the turf strip, then re-join the all-weather oval through the first turn. There is no apparent barrier bias, but with the all-weather track enveloped inside the turf strip, its turns are invariably tighter, and therefore forwardly-placed runners are better suited to low to middle draws in larger fields.
The 1600m G3 Prix Daphnis will run on the round course. Runners start at the top of the back straight on the left-hand side of the track. The round course is fair to all runners but keep in mind they tend to run non-sprint races in France at moderate tempos, which can make it difficult for those at the back to pick up the leaders in larger fields.
The four races on the straight course including the 1000m Listed Prix du Cercle, 1200m Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud, 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 the smallest field in the last ten years being eleven runners, and the average field size during that time has been 14, with an average winning barrier of 8.1.
Last year’s going of Prix Maurice de Gheest was Good to Soft and a field of fourteen runners went to post. On leaving the stalls, ARTORIUS was slow out of the gates and settled at the back, whilst KING HERMES led, with HIGHFIELD PRINCESS to his outside, and NAVAL CROWN tracking the leading pair, with the favourite, PERFECT POWER, in mid division. The entire field tacked over to the centre of the track with no change until 600m out when KING HERMES tried to kick on, but HIGHFIELD PRINCESS and NAVAL CROWN went with the leader, whilst GARRUS picked up on the outside. At the 300m mark, HIGHFIELD PRINCESS and NAVAL CROWN ran straight by the leader, with both GARRUS and MINZAAL finishing strongly. However, HIGHFIELD PRINCESS found plenty over the concluding stages to win by three quarters lengths, whilst MINZAAL ran through the line with purpose to grab second from GARRUS, in a time that was 0.10 seconds faster than standard.
The weather for Deauville during the week sees some rain being forecast for both the Thursday and Friday prior the meeting. If the forecast is correct, then the going is likely to have Soft in the description this year.
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