 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. | |
Chantilly Racecourse – Track Analysis (Prix du Jockey Club):
Chantilly racecourse is located approximately 50km from Paris, and is considered one of the most beautiful venues in the world. It consists of a network of three right-handed courses, plus a straight course, and includes the first All-Weather track to be installed on a Parisian racecourse, in 2011. The layout used for The Prix du Jockey Club, is The Jockey Club track, which has a circumference of 2400m and is a teardrop in shape. The home straight is 600m in length, rising approximately 10m to the winning post, which places emphasis on stamina.
The Prix du Jockey Club was originally run over 2500m and then 2400m, but was shortened to its current distance of 2100m in 2005. Over the 2100m they jump from the top of the back straight on the left hand side of the course. They have a straight run of approximately 800m before they hit the start of the bend, which has a sweeping aspect to it at first, but the final part of the turn, before they enter the 600m rising straight, is sharp. There is no cut-away rail in the straight at Chantilly, meaning horses need to be ridden prominently or look to sweep down the outside, as trying to thread through the field from the rear is a very difficult thing to do. More so than most French tracks, there is a high number of hard luck stories, especially for horses strung up in behind on the rail. As such, horses that draw low need to use up some of their early speed to hold a forward position if they can, or risk finding themselves trapped in a pocket on the rail.
There is a barrier bias over 2100m, which favours horses drawn low to middle. During the last 10 renewals, only one horse has won from double figure draws. Of the last ten winners, whilst no outright leader has won the race, seven have either tracked the speed or sat midfield, whilst just three have been late closers.
Last year’s Prix du Jockey Club was run on Good ground with a field of 11 going to post. On leaving the stalls the favourite, BIG ROCK, took up the running with both FLIGHT LEADER & EPICTETUS punching forward, whilst CONTINUOUS tracked the leaders as MARHABA YA SANAFI and ACE IMPACT were waited with toward the rear. BIG ROCK ensured the race was run at a solid gallop, and the shape of the race barely changed complexion with BIG ROCK as they came into the straight with several in behind being pushed along. Halfway down the straight BIG ROCK had opened-up what look to be a winning break, but ACE IMPACT started to pick up strongly on the outside from the back. No sooner had the commentator mentioned those in behind the leader looked to be battling for the minor honours that ACE IMPACT produced a devastating turn of foot to run straight by BIG ROCK and go to win by 3.5 lengths in what was a hugely impressive performance, from BIG ROCK in second and MARHABA YA SANAFI back to the third, in a time that was 4.67 seconds faster than standard.
The last ten renewals of the Prix Du Jockey Club has been run on varying ground, but Good to Soft is the most common description. The weather forecast suggests there is likely to be some rain in the week leading up to the meeting, with the possibility of light showers on race day. Thus, if the forecast is correct, and from a recent historically perspective, it is likely the ground will have soft in the going description, but Good to Soft is still a strong possibility.
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